Analysis of workplace violence against nursing professionals and possibilities for prevention

Abstract

Objective: To investigate workplace violence against nursing professionals, its relationship with personal, health and work variables, and to know possibilities for prevention. Method: Descriptive and cross-sectional study, with quantitative approach, conducted with 267 nursing professionals from urgency and emergency units between 2015 and 2017. The Questionnaire of socio-demographic, life style and work and health aspects and Questionnaire on Workplace violence collected data, after submitted to statistical analysis. Results: 61.6% reported having been victims of verbal abuse, sexual harassment, or physical violence at work in the last 12 months. Statistically significant relationships were identified between suffering or not violence and personal, health and work variables. Possibilities for prevention were revealed and constituted a multidimensional model. Conclusion: More than half of the sample reported having suffered workplace violence in the previous year, and possibilities of how to avoid it were revealed to support prevention protocols.