Predictors of events of violence or aggression against nurses in the workplace: A scoping review

Abstract

Aim: To identify predictors and consequences of violence or aggression events against nurses and nursing students in different work contexts. Background: Workplace violence against nurses and nursing students is a very common and widespread phenomenon. Actions to manage or prevent violent events could be implemented knowing the risk factors and consequences. However, there is a lack of systematic reviews that summarize knowledge on the predictors and consequences of workplace violence. Evaluation: A scoping review was conducted using electronic databases including APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, Cochrane, Ovid Medline, PubMed and Scopus. Key issues: After full text analysis, 87 papers were included in the current scoping review. Risk factors of horizontal violence were grouped into ‘personal’ and ‘Environmental and organizational’, and for violence perpetrated by patients into ‘personal’, ‘Environmental and organizational’ and ‘Characteristics of the perpetrators’. Conclusions: The results of this scoping review uncover problems that often remain unaddressed, especially where these episodes are very frequent. Workplace violence prevention and management programmes are essential to counter it. Implications for Nursing Management: The predictors and the consequents identified constitute the body of knowledge necessary for nurse managers to develop and implement policy and system actions to effectively manage or prevent violent events.