Prevalence of work-related violence among nurses working in Kashan Shahid Beheshti Hospital in 2018

Background and Objectives: Aggressive behaviors against medical personnel have been reported as a common problem that occurs in many ways and associated with many complications. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and work-related factors of workplace violent incidents against nurses in hospital environment. Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on 161 nursing professionals working at Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan. Data were collected using the Persian version of the standard questionnaire “Workplace violence in the health sector.” Descriptive analyses were conducted to examine the relationship of individual and work variables with the incidence of aggression. Results: Of the participants, 67% reported having been experienced at least one type of aggression within the past 12 months. The 1-year prevalence of verbal aggression (87%) was the highest, followed by physical aggression (31.2%). Nurses reported being pushed (13.6%) and beating (12.4%) as common physical aggression. Bullying (34.7%) and vilification (25.4%) were reported the most frequent verbal abuse. Perpetrators were mainly patients' family (61.2%) and patients (30.2%). Married nurses were more likely exposed to physical and verbal violence compared to single nurses (P = 0.016). The majority of nurses reported uselessness (62.8%) and unimportance (27.3%) of declaring violent events as the main reason for avoiding disclosure. Conclusion: The frequency of aggression, particularly verbal abuse is significantly high in nursing profession. The results suggest the need for the development of appropriate violent reporting and prevention systems in the hospital environment.