Workplace Violence Against Frontline Nurses in a University Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Workplace violence against nurses has increased attention worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of workplace violence (WPV) and related factors against frontline nurses in a university hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 275 nurses. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was applied to identify any associations. Results: Findings indicated that the prevalence of psychological WPV was 60.0% and physical WPV was 9.1%. Factors associated with physical WPV included working in the emergency, outpatient or psychiatric examination units (aOR = 4.62; 95% CI: 1.86e11.50). Additionally, work experience <10 years (aOR = 2.66; 95% CI: 1.53e4.62), personality type B (aOR = 2.51; 95%CI: 1.21e5.18), inadequate lighting (aOR = 2.53; 95%CI: 1.38e4.66), poor management of WPV (aOR = 1.77; 95% CI: 1.36e4.86) and poor organizational culture toward WPV (aOR = 2.22; 95% CI: 1.32e5.66) were associated with psychological WPV. Conclusion: Findings provide novel empirical evidence on the context of WPV in a Thai university hospital. Significant risk factors of WPV have the potential to be developed in an intervention to prevent WPV toward frontline nurses. The hospital should adopt WPV prevention programs in all settings to prevent healthcare workers from adverse effects.