Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine

Register      Login

SEARCH WITHIN CONTENT

FIND ARTICLE

Volume / Issue

Online First

Archive
Related articles

VOLUME 23 , ISSUE 7 ( July, 2019 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

A Survey on Workplace Violence Experienced by Critical Care Physicians

Kartik Munta, J Raj Kumar, S Manimala Rao, M Dnyaneshwar, Yogesh Harde

Keywords : Critical care physicians, Communication, Verbal violence, Workplace violence

Citation Information : Munta K, Kumar JR, Rao SM, Dnyaneshwar M, Harde Y. A Survey on Workplace Violence Experienced by Critical Care Physicians. Indian J Crit Care Med 2019; 23 (7):295-301.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23202

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 01-07-2019

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2019; The Author(s).


Abstract

Introduction: Workplace violence (WPV) has been defined as, “violent acts including physical assault and threats of assault directed toward personnel at work or on duty”. Healthcare staff are at highest risk of WPV among the professionals and it is more common among the critical care services. Prevalence of WPV among doctors all over the world is around 56–80% and in Indian scenario, it is around 40.8–75%. There is scarcity of studies on WPV among doctors from India. To our knowledge, this is the first of its kind survey conducted to know about the incidence of WPV amongst critical care physicians in India. Materials and Methods: This survey was conducted after taking due ethical committee clearance amongst critical care physicians attending a critical care conference. The purpose of the study was informed to the participants and a pretested, self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was distributed among them for their voluntary and anonymous response. Results: Out of 160 delegates who were given the questionnaire, 118 responses were collected and their forms were analyzed. Maximum responses (84%) received were of age group 20–40 years. Seventy-two percent respondents experienced WPV during their work hours. Most common type of violence reported was verbal violence (67%). Sixty-five percent respondents reported that poor communication was the leading cause of WPV. Due to WPV, most of the respondents (60%) had to change their place and pattern of work. Proper communication (76%) was the most common measure among multiple measures suggested by respondents for avoiding WPV. Eighty-three (98%) respondents opined that conflict management should be part of regular curriculum in medical education. Conclusion: Improving the communication skills amongst critical care physicians, teaching doctors about conflict management in their regular curriculum of medical education, spreading awareness in public about patient rights and taking initiatives in propagating an idea to “Fight against the diseases and not against the doctors” are the key measures to combat WPV.


PDF Share
  1. Morrison JL, Lantos JD, Levinson W. Aggression and violence directed towards physicians. J Gen Intern Med, 1998;13:556–561.
  2. Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) US Dept of Labour. Fact sheet: workplace violence in healthcare, 2015. Available at: https://www.osha.gov/dsg/hospitals/workplaceviolence.html.
  3. Warren B. Workplace violence in hospitals: safe havens no more. Journal of Healthcare Protection Management, 2011;27(2):9–17.
  4. Anand T, Grover S, Kumar R, Kumar M, Ingle GK. Workplace violence against resident doctors in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi. Natl Med J India 2016;29:344–348.
  5. Kumar M, Verma M, Das T, Pardeshi G, Kishore J, Padmanandan A. A study of workplace violence experienced by doctors and associated risk factors in a tertiary care hospital of South Delhi, India. J Clin Diagn Res 2016;10:LC06-LC10.
  6. Syed MMA. Violence against healthcare professionals: are we looking for the peaceful truce?. Int J Stud Res 2016;6(1):12.
  7. Nagpal N. Incidents of violence against doctors in India: Can these be prevented?. Natl Med J India 2017;30:97–100.
  8. Nelson R. Tackling violence against health-care workers. Lancet. 2014;383(9926):1373–1374.
  9. Bal A. A doctor's murder. Issues in Medical Ethics. 2001;9–39.
  10. Balamurugan G, Jose TT, Nandakumar P. Patients’ violence towards nurses: A questionnaire survey. Int J Nursing 2012;1:1–7.
  11. Lynch J, Appelboam R, McQuillan PJ. Survey of abuse and violence by patients and relatives towards intensive care staff. Anaesthesia. 2003; 58(9), 893–899.
  12. Kaplan B, Pişkin RE, Ayar B. Violence against Healthcare Workers. Med J Islamic World Acad Sci. 2013; 21(1): 4–10.
  13. Ori J, Devi NS, Singh AB, Thongam K, Padu J, Abhilesh R. Prevalence and attitude of workplace violence among the post graduate students in a tertiary hospital in Manipur. J Med Soc 2014;28:25–28.
  14. Joshi SC, Joshi R. Doctor becomes a patient: a qualitative study of healthcare work place violence related perception among junior doctors working in a teaching hospital in India. Int J Community Med Public Health 2018;5: 1775–1786.
  15. Goodman RA, Jenkins EL, Mercy JA. Workplace-related homicide among healthcare workers in the United States, 1980 through 1990. JAMA 1994;272:1686–1688.
  16. Kuhn W. Violence in the emergency department: Managing aggressive patients in a high-stress environment. Postgrad Med J 1999;105:143–148, 154.
  17. Imran N, Pervez MH, Farooq R, Asghar AR. Aggression and violence towards medical doctors and nurses in a public healthcare facility in Lahore, Pakistan: A preliminary investigation. Khyber Med Univ J 2013;5:179–184.
  18. Ambesh P. Violence against doctors in the Indian subcontinent: A rising bane. Indian Heart J. 2016;68(5):749–750.
  19. Kapoor MC. Violence against the medical profession. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2017;33:145–147.
  20. Violence against doctors: Why China? Why now? What next? Lancet. 2014;383(9922):1013.
  21. Aydin B, Kartal M, Midik O, Buyukakkus A. Violence against general practitioners in turkey. J Interpers Violence 2009;24:1980–1995.
  22. Fernandes CM, Bouthillette F, Raboud JM, et al. Violence in the emergency department: a survey of healthcare workers. CMAJ. 1999;161(10):1245–1248.
  23. Madhiwalla N, Roy N. Assaults on public hospital staff by patients and their relatives: an inquiry. Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, [S.l.], v. 3, n. 2, p. 51, nov. 2016. ISSN 0975-5691.
  24. Pane GA, Winiarski AM, Salness KA. Aggression directed toward emergency department staff at a university teaching hospital. Ann Emerg Med 1991;20:283–286.
  25. Jiao M, Ning N, Li Y, Gao L, Cui Y, Sun H, et al. Workplace violence against nurses in Chinese hospitals: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open 2015;5:e006719.
  26. Bawaskar HS. Violence against doctors in India. Lancet. 2014;384(9947):955–956.
  27. Zhao S, Liu H, Ma H, Jiao M, Li Y, Hao Y, et al. Coping with workplace violence in healthcare settings: social support and strategies. Watterson A, ed. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015;12(11):14429–14444.
  28. Vorderwülbecke F, Feistle M, Mehring M, Schneider A, Linde K. Aggression and violence against primary care physicians - a nationwide questionnaire survey. Deutsches Ärzteblatt Int. 2015;112(10):159–165.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.