Keywords
patient
medical staff
hate
stalking
How to Cite
Abstract
Aggression in the modern world is evolving and becoming increasingly prevalent. The phenomenon of patients’ aggression towards medical staff in the work environment is becoming more and more frequent.
The aim of the study is to diagnose the phenomenon of patient aggression towards medical staff, including nursing teams.
The research was conducted using a diagnostic survey method in the organizational units of Szpital Powiatowy in Szczytno. The research was carried out between March 15, 2022, and November 30, 2022, using a proprietary questionnaire.
The study involved 150 people, most of whom were women. The study showed that 97% of respondents experienced aggression from patients, including 66% verbal aggression and 34% physical aggression. The study results also showed a correlation between patients’ aggression and its impact on the behavior of healthcare workers, causing nervousness in 50% of them. The respondents declared a negative impact of aggression on their work, disorganizing it (30%) and on bio-psycho-social well-being, causing nervousness (26%), and discouragement from work (18%).
Physical and verbal aggression from patients is still a very common phenomenon in health care. Medical staff often experience psychological aggression from patients and/or their relatives. According to the respondents, new forms of aggression, such as hate speech or stalking, were experienced, caused by patients and their families towards medical staff, but they occurred quite
sporadically. Patients’ aggression towards medical staff always leaves negative health effects, mainly in the emotional sphere of medical staff. The staff expects training in the field of employee rights protection and ways of dealing with aggressive patients.
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