Abstract
Introduction
Patient/visitor violence and aggression (V&A) in the emergency department occurs daily.
Few interventions exist to decrease V&A. Research describing prevalence, severity,
and perceived safety among ED clinicians is limited.
Methods
A descriptive survey explored V&A against ED clinicians in one urban emergency department.
A sample of nurses, ED technicians, physicians and advanced practice providers participated.
Participants completed a demographic survey, Personal Workplace Safety Instrument
for Emergency Nurses (PWSI-EN), and ENA V&A frequency checklist. Analysis of Variance
(ANOVA) for unadjusted and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for adjusted associations
were used to assess differences in the PWSI-EN survey composite score and “feeling
safe in the ED” among ED roles. ANCOVA was adjusted for potential confounders: sex,
race, years working in emergency department, and shift worked.
Results
Sixty-five (46.4%) of the 140 ED clinicians returned surveys, which were almost evenly
distributed between ED clinician roles and sex. Mean age was 37.2 (range: 21-64) years.
All (100%) nurses and providers reported being verbally abused. More nurses reported
physical violence (n = 21, 87.5%) than providers (n = 7, 36.8%) and ED technicians
(n = 11, 55%). Nurses and ED technicians reported experiencing greater prevalence
of physical violence than providers (P < .05). Nurses (mean 3.29, range 2.95 to 3.63) were more fearful for their personal
safety than ED technicians (mean 3.88, range 3.48 to 4.28) (P < .03).
Discussion
V&A are common creating a fearful environment. However, little research regarding
clinician perceptions exists. Our study aids in identifying areas for clinician-targeted
strategies to prevent ED V&A.
Key words
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Biography
Jean M. Boles is Clinical Nurse III, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Biography
Diane Maccarone is Assistant Nurse Manager, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Biography
Beverly Brown is Clinical Nurse III, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Biography
Alexandra Archer is Clinical Nurse Educator, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Cary, NC.
Biography
Michael G. Trotter is Attending Physician, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; and is Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine, Penn Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.
Biography
Nicholas M.G. Friedman is Medical Student, Stanford Medical School, Stanford, CA. ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4805-0173
Biography
Jesse Chittams is Managing Director, Biostatistics Consulting Unit, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA.
Biography
Leighann Mazzone is Nurse Manager, Emergency Department, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA. ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5143-9254
Biography
James Ballinghoff is Chief Nursing Officer, Associate Executive Director, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Biography
Christian N. Burchill is Director of Nursing Research and Evidence-based Practice, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital, Lancaster, PA. ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4310-9615
Biography
Pamela Z. Cacchione is Nurse Scientist, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; is Ralston House Term Chair in Gerontological Nursing, Professor of Geropsychiatric Nursing, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, PA; is Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Healthcare Economics, Philadelphia, PA; and is Subject Matter Expert, Jonas Foundation, New York, NY. Twitter: @AgingSense1 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1805-7091.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 27, 2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
