The following is a list of academic research on health care workplace violence, published in 2015.
Nurses are at higher risk of developing work-related psychological distress and associated psychological illness when compared to the general Canadian workforce. Nurses experience high levels of physical and psychological injury, job burnout and depression, which are associated with increased levels of absenteeism, disability claims and compromised patient care. We advocate for improvements to workplace psychological health for Canadian nurses at an organizational level to enhance both nurse and patient health.
Berrios, C. Workplace Psychological Health Among Canadian Nurses. UBCMJ
Through a review and meta-analysis of the research literature on workplace and school bullying, the aims of this study were to determine: 1) the magnitude of the association between bullying and symptoms of PTSD, and 2) whether the clinical diagnosis of PTSD applies to the consequences of bullying.
Nielsen et al. Post-traumatic stress disorder as a consequence of bullying at work and at school. A literature review and meta-analysis. Aggression and violent behaviour. Vol. 21. March 2015. ScienceDirect
This article examines the relationship between nurses’ exposure to workplace bullying and post‐traumatic stress disorder symptomology and the protective role of psychological capital.
Laschinger et al. Exposure to workplace bullying and post-traumatic stress disorder symptomology: the role of protective psychological resources. Journal of Nursing Management. March 2015. Vol. 23 (2). PubMed Central
Research conducted by Manitoba Nurses Union found that violence in the workplace can lead to the development of PTSD, and that as many as 52% of nurses have been physically assaulted while at work.
Manitoba Nurses Union. PTSD in the nursing profession. April 2015. Research Report
Nurses from a US urban/community hospital system employing more than 5,000 nurses researched the incidence of workplace violence against nurses perpetrated by patients or visitors in their hospital system.
Speroni et al. Incidence and cost of nurse workplace violence perpetrated by hospital patients or patient visits. Journal of Emergency Nursing. May 2015. Vol. 30(3). PubMed Central
This qualitative study explored psychiatric nurses’ experiences of patient violence in acute care inpatient psychiatric settings.
Stevenson et al. Registered nurses’ experiences of patient violence on acute care psychiatric inpatient units: an interpretive descriptive study. BMC Nursing. May 2015. Vol. 14. PubMed Central
This study examined post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD), secondary traumatization (ST) and vicarious post-traumatic growth (VG) among Israeli psychiatric nurses (PN) who were compared to community nurses (CN).
Zerach, Gad, and Shalev, Tal Ben-Itzchak. The relations between violence exposure, post-traumatic stress symptoms, secondary traumatization, vicarious post traumatic growth and illness attribution among psychiatric nurses. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing. Vol. 29(3). June 2015. PubMed Central
The prevalence of major depression in Canadian nurses is double the national average for working women. The present study sought to delineate the role of professional autonomy, health care setting, and work environment characteristics as risk factors for depression and absenteeism in female nurses.
Enns, V., Currie, S., Wang, J. Professional autonomy and work setting as contributing factors to depression and absenteeism in Canadian nurses. Nursing Outlook. June 2015. Vol. 63 (3). PubMed Central
This article outlines the journey of Toronto East General Hospital as it became a champion of workplace violence prevention (WVP) in the health care industry. Significant improvements in staff engagement, a reduction in the frequency and severity of incidents and a positive shift in the culture around WVP have all been demonstrated.
Bujna, Erna, Casselman, Nancy, Devitt, Rob, Loverock, Faye, Wardrope Sarah. Leadership Engagement and Workplace Violence Prevention: The Collaboration between a Large Community Hospital and Its Unions. Healthcare Quarterly. Vol. 18 (2). July 2015. Longwoods
This paper aims to examine the impact of organizational factors on bullying among peers (i.e. horizontal) and its effect on turnover intentions among Canadian registered nurses (RNs).
Blackstock, Sheila. Harlos, Karen. Macleod, Martha. Hardy, Cindy. The impact of organization factors on horizontal bullying and turnover intentions in the nursing workplace. Journal of Nursing Management. Vol 23 (8). November 2015. Wiley
A comprehensive overview of post-traumatic stress disorder presented by an expert in the field.
Heber, Alexandra. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Trauma and Burnout in the Workplace. July 2015. Presentation to the Canadian Federation of Nurses’ Unions