Violence Episodes and Responses of Emergency Room Nurses.
- Author:
Su Yon KIM
1
;
Miran EOM
;
Hee Young OH
;
Hye Young AHN
Author Information
1. Department of Nursing, Konyang University Hospital, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Emergencies;
Nurses;
Violence
- MeSH:
Adaptation, Psychological;
Criminals;
Education;
Emergencies*;
Emergency Service, Hospital*;
Hospitals, General;
Humans;
Prevalence;
Surveys and Questionnaires;
Violence*
- From:Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamental Nursing
2007;14(4):446-456
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: The purpose of study was to identify violence episodes by patients and/or their guardians and responses from emergency room nurses. METHOD: A convenient sample of 172 emergency nurses was selected from general hospitals with more than 200 beds. A survey design was used and data were collected from October 2 to October 11, 2006. using self-report questionnaires which were developed by the authors. Descriptive statistics, with the SPSS PC program were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The majority of nurses (97.1%) had experienced violence by patients or their guardians in the previous month. Violence offenders who were drunk comprised 68.6% of total offenders. Causes of violence were delays in examination and treatment (59.9%). The major coping behavior in dealing with violence episodes was ignoring (40.1%). Responses to violence experienced by emergency nurses were rated as 2.39. Response to violence according to general characteristics of the nurses showed no statistically significant differences. CONCLUSION: Considering the high prevalence of violence experienced by emergency nurses, hospitals must develop and manage preventive education programs and policy.