Assessment of Psychological Consequences of Violence in Psychiatric Nurses

Abstract

BACKGROUND Workplace violence, particularly within psychiatric nursing environments, is an emerging concern globally and has been recognized as a significant occupational stressor with considerable psychological consequences, yet it remains underexplored, warranting an in-depth study. AIM This study aimed to assess the psychological consequences of violence on psychiatric nurses in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. METHOD A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used. A convenience sampling technique was used to select 198 psychiatric nurses working in two hospitals with psychiatric departments in Jeddah. A self-administered questionnaire and the Impact of Event Scale - Revised (IES-R) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics version 22 (IBM Corp. Released 2013. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). RESULTS Out of the 198 psychiatric nurses who participated in the study, 80.8% reported experiencing violence in their workplace, highlighting the need for effective interventions to prevent and manage violence in psychiatric settings. The majority of the participants had a diploma (68.2%), and 54.5% of the nurses had more than 10 years of experience. Among patient-related factors related to violence, drug abuse had the highest mean score of 4.07 (SD=0.89) and was ranked as the most significant factor, while among nursing-related factors, a lower level of experience in psychiatric care had the lowest mean score of 3.43 (SD=1.11) and was ranked as the least important factor. The nurses tended to avoid discussing the traumatic event, as indicated by the highest mean score of 2.10 (SD=1.18) for item 22, "I tried not to talk about it." The mean score for the avoidance subscale of the IES-R was 1.55 (SD=0.78), the highest mean score among the subscales and ranked first in terms of severity. CONCLUSION This study highlighted the significant psychological consequences of violence on psychiatric nurses in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.