Prevalence of Workplace Violence and Associated Factors Against Nurses Working in Public Hospitals in Northeastern Ethiopia, 2022

Abstract

Background: Workplace violence against nurses is a burgeoning public health issue affecting developing countries’ healthcare industries. Medical staff, particularly nursing staff, have been subjected to a high level of violence from patients, visitors, and coworkers. Objective: Aimed to assess the magnitude and associated factors of workplace violence among nurses working in public hospitals in northeast Ethiopia. Methods: A multicenter hospital-based cross-sectional study was employed among 568 nurses using census method among public hospitals in Northeast Ethiopia in 2022. The data was gathered using a pretested structured questionnaire and entered into Epi Data version 4.7 before being exported to SPSS version 26 for analysis. Furthermore, at 95% CI, multivariable binary logistic regression was used, and variables with P-values of 41 [AOR = 2.27, 95% CI (1.101, 4.701)], nurses who had drunk alcohol in the past 30 days [AOR = 7.94, 95% CI (3.027, 20.86)], nurses who drink alcohol in their lifetime [AOR = 3.14, 95% CI (1.328, 7.435)], and male patients [AOR = 4.84, 95% CI (2.496, 9.415)] were positive predictors of workplace violence. Conclusion and recommendation: In this study, the magnitude of workplace violence among nurses was relatively higher. Nurses’ sex, age, alcohol habit, and sex of patients were associated with workplace violence. Therefore, intensive facility-based and community-based behavioral change health promotion activities on workplace violence should be done, with particular focus on nurses and patients.