Workplace Violence and Perspectives of Healthcare Professionals on Electronic White Code System

The aim of the study was to investigate the white code implementation in a public hospital which intends to provide security for healthcare professionals to reduce the risks of being exposed to workplace violence (WPV) by patients and patient relatives. In this study, 109 WPV cases in Afyonkarahisar Public Hospital were examined. According to study results; mostly female healthcare professionals (63,3%) were exposed WPV while the aggressors were male (72,4%) in most cases. Most of the WPV incidents happened in the Emergency Department (35,7%) and hallways (26,6%). Frequent violence type was verbal violence (50,4%) and physical violence (21,1%) followed it. Participants believed that white code system had a positive effect on preventing WPV incidents, still the violence was inevitable. The main reason underlying WPV incidents was determined due to long waiting times for treatment and low communication capabilities. Study results suggest to decrease the number of WPV incidents; white code applications should be implemented in healthcare institutions, healthcare professional should be trained about WPV, how to keep from violence incidents and what to do in case of WPV, make them feel that the managers and the institution are behind them.