Physical and verbal workplace violence against nurses in Jordan

AIMS: To explore the prevalence of physical and verbal workplace violence among nurses working in general hospitals in Jordan, and to investigate the relation between physical violence, verbal violence, anxiety about violence, and some certain demographic variables. BACKGROUND: Violence against nurses at the workplace is an alarming problem in both developed and developing countries. This study explicates physical and psychological workplace violence and its relation to anxiety about violence at workplace and to some demographic variables. METHODS: A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted on a convenience sample of nurses working in general hospitals in Jordan. RESULTS: A total of 468 nurses completed the questionnaire, 52.8% of the participants reported that they were physically attacked, and 67.8% were verbally attacked in the last 12 months. Of those who were physically attacked, 26.5% reported a physical violence with a weapon. The logistic regression analysis revealed that female nurses were 0.5 times less likely to report being physically attacked and were 1.5 times more likely to report being verbally abused than male nurses. DISCUSSION: Violence against nurses is highly prevalent in Jordan. More than half of the participants were victims of violence at their workplace during the last year. Verbal abuse was more common among females than males. NURSING IMPLICATIONS: Nurses are in the frontline of the healthcare system and their safety is a high priority. They need to be involved in the development and formulation of workplace violence policy decisions. CONCLUSIONS: Physical and verbal workplace violence in Jordan, like other countries, is a dangerous behavior that negatively affects general hospital nurses.