Workplace Violence: Impact on the Commitment and Involvement of Nurses at Work

Abstract

Objective. To analyse the relationship between workplace violence and work engagement in nursing professionals. Background. Violence in the workplace has become a phenomenon of growing concern. Nursing professionals are one of the most exposed groups to this type of violence. Method. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on a national sample of Spanish nurses by means of convenience, non-probabilistic sampling. A questionnaire was administered that collected sociodemographic variables, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9), and an “ad hoc” scale on violence in the workplace. Results. 1648 active nursing professionals participated in this study. The participants obtained higher scores in the “dedication” variable. It was observed that 42.17% had personally suffered some type of aggression or violence at work. Verbal aggression was the most frequent type of reported violence. Nurses who experience violence, threat, and psychological harassment showed lower levels of work engagement than those who did not. In the case of those who experience sexual harassment and those who do not, the values for the UWES-9 were similar. Conclusions. Having personally experienced violence, threats or psychological harassment can negatively affect nurses’ work engagement, the most common acts of violence being verbal and often perpetrated by family members and patients. Implications for Nursing Management. Adequate tools are not still being used to ensure that the assaulted professionals are adequately assisted by their institutions.