Victimisation of health care workers with special reference to patient-nurse victimisation in Limpopo Province, South Africa : occupational health

Workers who provide services in the remote or high crime areas, work shift hours and/or have a great deal of contact with the public as employees are at a higher risk to encounter violence in the workplace. The violence that occurs at work refers to a broad spectrum of behaviours such as violent acts by patients, visitors or co-workers that result in a concern for personal safety. Nurses are experiencing physical threats, verbal abuse, psychological and imminent violence on a regular basis. The purpose of the study is to explore the extent to which nurses are victimised by patients. The paper used secondary data, collected from various scholarly documents on victimisation of nurses. Literature revealed that nurses are exposed to overwhelming violence with severe consequences. Low staffing was among various contributory factors heightening victimisation of nurses by patients. Nurses' risk factors include age, gender, years of experience, hours worked, marital status and previous workplace violence training. It could be deduced from the findings of the study that lack of policies and protocols in the workplace is an aggravating factor for victimisation of nurses. The study recommends creation and dissemination of clear policy of zero tolerance for workplace violence, verbal and non-verbal threats and related actions.