Abstract
Background: Workplace violence for healthcare sector is a serious safety hazard and has attracted much attention worldwide, especially for nursing staff. Equipping nursing personnel with protective capabilities for workplace violence can reduce the risk they face in work settings. This study is to explore the scenarios of common violent patient–nurse conflicts in the workplace of hospital nursing staff, as well as their capability for de-escalating such conflicts.
Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 nurses in two teaching hospitals in New Taipei City, Taiwan, until data saturation was reached. The data were transcribed, encoded, analyzed and similar concepts were grouped under the same category.
Results:Four categories of workplace violence scenarios common to hospital nursing staff were identified: unreasonable requests, caring for high-risk patients, long waiting time for medical consultation, and close contact when caring for patients. Furthermore, two protective capabilities were recognized: communication and interpersonal capabilities and problem-solving skills. Each scenario may require a different combination of abilities.
Conclusion: Ourfindingssuggest that a violence-prevention training program couldbe designed for various workplace violence scenarios to enhance nurses’ abilities for de-escalating workplace violence in hospitals.