A survey assessing prevalence of in-hospital violence against veterinary nurses working in small animal hospitals

Abstract

Background: In recent years, due to a strong concern about this issue, many studies have been conducted on in-hospital violence directed at medical personnel working in the field of human medicine. However, no such survey has been conducted in veterinary medicine to date. Veterinary nurses play an important role in small-animal hospitals. This study aimed to investigate whether in-hospital violence occurred against veterinary nurses in small animal hospitals. Aim: We conducted a questionnaire survey among veterinary nurses working in small animal hospitals to assess their experience of being subjected to in-hospital violence (verbal and physical). Methods: The target period for this survey was one year before the completion of the questionnaire. A total of 134 nurses gave their consent to participate in this survey, and 126 survey responses were included in the final analysis (valid response rate: 94.0%). Incomplete responses were excluded from the analysis. Results: It was seen that 51 people (40.5%) reported having experienced incidents of verbal or physical violence, or sexual harassment. Conclusion: Based on these results, we suggest measures that will help ensure that the staff can provide veterinary care without worrying about their safety and well-being.