Frequency and Causes of Workplace Violence in a Burn Clinic

Background: Workplace violence as a major public problem. One fourth of total workplace violence occurs in health sectors. It is associated with negative changes in conditions such as well-being, job satisfaction, job motivation, productivity, and mental and physical health of employees. So the aim of this study was to determine the frequency of violence and to analysis the probable causes of violence in a burn clinic.Methods: This is a descriptive study. Data gathering was started from November 2016 to January 2018 in a burn clinic in Kermanshah, west province in Iran. Data was gathered in the morning shift through observation. Related information was documented in a data sheet including information about perpetrators, gender of perpetrator, causes of violence, frequency of violence in every shifts and kinds of violence. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics. Chi-square was used to determine the differences between categorical variables.Results: 192 cases of workplace violence were reported in 13 months. 114 (59.4%) of perpetrators were female. 55% of perpetrators and people who experienced the violence were younger than 40 years old. 81.2% of observations represented that only one event of violence happened in a morning shift while in 28.8% of cases two to four events occurred. 98.2% of violence were verbal abuse, 1.2% physical assaults and 0.6% sexual harassment. Perpetrators of violence in 27.2% of events were nurses/paramedic with patients, 22.1% physicians with nurses and 12.3% nurses with patient’s relative. Talking with load voice (39.2%), shouting (31.2%), and nagging (15.3%) were the common forms of verbal abuse. The most common causes of violence based on the frequency were dissatisfaction of nurse performance 44(22.9%), inadequate facilities in the clinic 22(14.6%); payment system, registration system and administrative process 26 (13.6); inability to communicate properly 24(12.5%), lack of pain management during care 17(8.8).Conclusion: Newly graduated nurses need continues education about burn care and appropriate communication skills. More considerations are necessary for pain management and payment system in hospitals.