Occupational injury among hospital patient-care workers: What is the association with workplace verbal abuse?

Objective To test the association between workplace abuse exposure and injury risk among hospital workers. We hypothesized that exposed workers would have higher injury rates than unexposed workers. Methods Survey of direct‐care workers (n = 1,497) in two hospitals. Exposure to workplace abuse was a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of industrial medicine 2014-02, Vol.57 (2), p.222-232
Main Authors: Sabbath, Erika L., Hurtado, David A., Okechukwu, Cassandra A., Tamers, Sara L., Nelson, Candace, Kim, Seung-Sup, Wagner, Gregory, Sorenson, Glorian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Back Injuries - epidemiology
Biological and medical sciences
Contusions - epidemiology
Female
Health participants
Humans
Interprofessional Relations
Lifting - adverse effects
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Musculoskeletal Pain - epidemiology
non-physical violence
Nurse-Patient Relations
Nursing Staff, Hospital - psychology
Nursing Staff, Hospital - statistics & numerical data
Occupational Injuries - epidemiology
Occupational Injuries - psychology
occupational injury
Occupational medicine
Prevalence
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Risk Management
Social Behavior
Sprains and Strains - epidemiology
Verbal Behavior
Workplace - psychology
workplace abuse
workplace harassment
workplace violence
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Summary:Objective To test the association between workplace abuse exposure and injury risk among hospital workers. We hypothesized that exposed workers would have higher injury rates than unexposed workers. Methods Survey of direct‐care workers (n = 1,497) in two hospitals. Exposure to workplace abuse was assessed through self‐report; occupational injury reports were extracted from employee records. We tested associations between non‐physical workplace violence and injury using log‐binomial regression and multilevel modeling. Results Adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) for injury associated with being yelled at was 1.52 (95% CI 1.19, 1.95); for experiencing hostile/offensive gestures 1.43 (1.11, 1.82); and for being sworn at 1.41 (1.09, 1.81). In analyses by injury subtypes, musculoskeletal injuries were more strongly associated with abuse than were acute traumatic injuries. Associations operated on group and individual levels and were most consistently associated with abuse perpetrated by patients. Conclusion Exposure to workplace abuse may be a risk factor for injuries among hospital workers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:222–232, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN:0271-3586
1097-0274
DOI:10.1002/ajim.22271