Workplace Violence Among Health Care Professionals in Public and Private Health Facilities in Bangladesh

Abstract

Objectives: The main objectives of this study were to examine the prevalence of workplace violence (WPV), its associated factors and explore the experiences of healthcare workers.Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study design used a nationally representative sample of 1,081 healthcare workers covering eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. Logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate the adjusted effect of independent factors on WPV among healthcare workers.Results: Of the participants, 43% (468) experienced some form of WPV. Of those, 84% reported experiencing nonphysical violence, and 16% experienced physical violence in the past year. About 65% of victims claimed no action was taken to investigate the incident, and 44% reported no consequence for perpetrators. Four factors: being married (AOR = 1.63; CI: 1.12–2.39); public sector healthcare worker (AOR = 2.74; CI:1.99–3.76); working in an emergency department (AOR = 2.30; CI:1.03–5.12); and undertaking shift work (AOR = 1.52; CI: 1.10–2.11) were found to be significantly associated with WPV. One-third of the participants were worried about violence in their workplace.Conclusion: WPV is highly prevalent among healthcare workers in Bangladesh. Formal guidelines for reporting and managing WPV are urgently needed at the individual, hospital, and national levels.