Evaluation of healthcare workers' perceptions of difficult patients: Samsun province example

Abstract

Aims: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the difficult patient perceptions of physicians/dentists, midwives/nurses, medical secretaries, security personnel and other healthcare professionals working in public hospitals in Samsun by comparing them according to their gender, age, marital status, profession, educational status and place of duty. Methods: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted within the scope of the validity and reliability analysis of the survey created to evaluate the perceptions of difficult patients among 238 healthcare professionals working in public hospitals in Samsun, and 28 statements were collected under 4 dimensions. Student-t test, ANOVA test and post-hoc analyzes were performed at 5% significance level to test the research hypotheses. Results: While the struggle levels of health workers were generally low, it was observed that the struggle levels of women, under 40 years of age, and health workers working in polyclinics and emergency services were lower when compared according to gender, age and the units they worked in. While the burnout levels of healthcare professionals are generally found to be above average or high, it was found that the burnout levels of female, single, undergraduate and graduate educated healthcare professionals, physicians and nurses working in outpatient clinics, emergency services and inpatient services were higher when compared according to gender, marital status, education, profession and the units where they work. Conclusion: Within the framework of health management and organization, it is thought that in-service training should be organized for healthcare professionals with lower levels of struggle to increase their level of coping with difficult patients, and to reduce the burnout levels of healthcare professionals with higher levels of burnout, and they should be supported with tools that will enable staff empowerment.