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The University of Murcia has detected that 70% of the nursing staff working in the hospitals of the Region of Murcia live situations of hostility or verbal aggression by patients who come to their services.
The study has been developed by the School of Applied Psychology (SEPA) through surveys of nurses and nursing assistants.
The work tries to measure the state of hostility in which the nurses work daily, beyond the specific physical aggressions.
"In the study we stated that physical violence is the tip of the iceberg of a problem that is daily experienced with intimidation, threats and bad gestures," explains José Antonio Ruiz, director of SEPA.
Looks of contempt, threats, hostile gestures, intimidation, insults or disrespect contribute to create a hostile environment in the work that has consequences for professionals.
22.8% of respondents say they live this type of situation daily or weekly.
"This low intensity violence is a risk factor for physical violence and detecting it can help intervene earlier and prevent aggression," says Ruiz.
Regarding the psychological effects of being exposed to these situations, the School of Applied Psychology points out that these nurses are more sensitive to suffering anxious or depressive states.
The results also show that professionals who claim to have more exposure to low intensity violence are the most dissatisfied in their jobs.
SEPA concludes that establishing preventive measures focused on social awareness, as well as generating protection factors for professionals, are actions that can help improve the climate perceived in health services and, therefore, improve quality thereof.
To carry out this study, 1,489 surveys were conducted, of which just over 80% were nurses and the rest were nurses' assistants.
A new project to study violence in the emergency room
The School of Applied Psychology (SEPA) is about to start another ambitious research project to continue providing data on the violence faced by health professionals.
Specifically, the next study they are preparing will investigate violence in hospital and outpatient emergency services.
Twenty hospitals in ten autonomous communities participate in this project for the time being.
One of the objectives is to analyze the situations faced by professionals who attend emergencies outside hospitals, who work in situations of stress in uncontrolled environments.
Source: Universidad de Murcia
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