Violence against surgical residents

Violence against hospital personnel is underreported (less than one in five assaults), and accurate statistics as to the rate of violence against hospital personnel are thus difficult to establish. In the psychiatric discipline, an abundance of information has been published regarding violence in th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Western journal of medicine 1997-08, Vol.167 (2), p.74-78
Main Authors: Barlow, C B, Rizzo, A G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Cohort Studies
Crimes against
Data Collection
Female
General Surgery
Humans
Incidence
Internship and Residency - statistics & numerical data
Male
Middle Aged
Occupational Health - statistics & numerical data
Residents (Medicine)
Surgeons
Surveys
United States - epidemiology
Violence - statistics & numerical data
Violence in hospitals
Workplace
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Violence against hospital personnel is underreported (less than one in five assaults), and accurate statistics as to the rate of violence against hospital personnel are thus difficult to establish. In the psychiatric discipline, an abundance of information has been published regarding violence in the health care setting, but few studies have examined violence outside psychiatric hospitals or by patients not diagnosed with psychiatric ailments. Using a survey that elicits information about workplace violence, we sought to gauge the prevalence of violent acts affecting general hospital workers who treat victims of violence on a daily basis. The survey was completed by a cohort of surgical staff nationwide (475 responses from 57 residency programs). Two hundred and eighty residents reported having witnessed one or more physical attacks, and 179 reported having been attacked. Violent acts were more likely to be committed in a public hospital than a private institution (P = 0.05). As shown in previous research, most attacks occurred in the emergency room (P = 0.01); the wards and parking lot were next in frequency. Women residents were more likely than men to call hospital security to intervene in a potentially violent situation (P = 0.04), and junior residents (postgraduate years 1-4) were more likely to be attacked than senior residents (> or = 5 years) (P = 0.04). The attacker was most likely to be a young black male between ages 19 and 30 (P = 0.01). We found no statistical relationship between the attacker and the victim regarding sex or race. Of the 475 respondents, 470 reported that they carry a gun themselves or know someone in the hospital environment who carries a gun. Images
ISSN:0093-0415
1476-2978