Coping with Workplace Violence against General Practitioners and Nurses in Heilongjiang Province, China: Social Supports and Prevention Strategies

• Published in: PloS one 2016-06, Vol.11 (6), p.e0157897-e0157897
• Main Authors: Zhao, Siqi, Qu, Lijun, Liu, He, Gao, Lijun, Jiao, Mingli, Liu, Jinghua, Liang, Libo, Zhao, Yanming, Wu, Qunhong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Aggression; Analysis; Anxiety; Biology and Life Sciences; Cameras; China; Demography; Engineering and Technology; Female; General Practitioners; Global health; Health care; Health care policy; Health Personnel - psychology; Health services; Hospital administration; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Medical personnel; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental health care; Middle Aged; Nurses; Nursing; Occupational exposure; Occupational stress; People and Places; Population; Practice; Prevention; Protective equipment; Public health; Researchers; Rural areas; Security; Social interactions; Social Sciences; Social Support; Stress; Studies; Violence; Work environment; Workplace violence; Workplace Violence - prevention & control; Workplace Violence - psychology
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157897

The study's objectives were to: 1) use social support theory to examine factors influencing healthcare workers' opinions about workplace violence (WPV) prevention strategies, and 2) to determine the types of support that general practitioners (GPs) and general nurses sought and expected to use after WPV exposure. A cross-sectional survey was used to assess a sample of 448 GPs and 412 general nurses from 90 township hospitals located in Heilongjiang province, China. Results revealed that workers exposed to physical, psychological or both WPV types had a strong opinion about the necessity of improving diagnosis/treatment competence, developing violence prevention guidelines and plans, using protective equipment, and reinforcing staff by providing back-up support. The last two strategies were also selected by tertiary hospital workers in our previous study. In addition, workers with high anxiety selected the following prevention strategies as most effective: improving doctor-patient communication skills; installing cameras on wards; keeping work areas bright; improvements in violence reporting, statistics, and interventions; security patrols in the key departments; reinforcing staff; and correcting inaccurate media perspectives and reports. The last four strategies were also selected by tertiary hospital workers. All respondents expected to receive organisational and social support. In conclusion, these prevention strategies should be tailored to the different requirements of specific populations. Furthermore, it is necessary for organisations, the public, and policymakers to provide powerful support in WPV prevention.