Investigation of The Perceptions of Safety and Confidence Against Violence of Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Aim: In the study was carried out to determine the frequency of exposure to violence in the working environment and the perceptions of security and trust against violence. Method: The study is a descriptive, cross-sectional and correlational research. A total of 507 health professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives and health managers) working in hospitals and family medicine centers in Turkey were included in the study. Data were collected with Personal Information Form and Safety and Confidence Scale of Healthcare Professionals. Results: It has been determined that 58.6% of health workers have been exposed to physical violence and 88% to psychological violence in the last five years. The trust sub-dimension mean score of the participants from the scale was 6.87 (SD=1.9) and the security sub-dimension mean score was 4.56 (SD=2.04). It has been determined that the perceptions of security and trust differ statistically according to gender, age, education level, unit of work, working experience, exposure to violence and white code. Conclusion: As a result of the research, it was determined that psychological violence is more common in health workers, their perception of feeling safe is low, and their perceptions about the ability to manage violence are moderate. It is recommended that legal regulations be made regarding violence against healthcare professionals and that the management system should be structured in a way that will enable employees to feel safe in the workplace and to cope with violence.