| Abstract [eng] |
Introduction. Many healthcare specialists experience psychological and/or physical violence from patients or their relatives. This is a significant contributing factor to the decline in emotional well-being and work quality among healthcare professionals. Objective. To investigate the prevalence of psychological and/or physical violence experienced by different medical staff positions in three Lithuanian hospitals, and its subsequent impact on their emotional well-being and work quality. Methods. A multiple-choice anonymous questionnaire was conducted in three Lithuanian hospitals: Šiauliai Republican Hospital, Panevėžys Republican Hospital and Vilnius City Clinical Hospital. An original questionnaire was developed, but only questions about depression/anxiety/stress and sleep were included from freely available questionnaires. A total of 100 respondents participated in the survey. Anonymous survey data was collected on the demographic characteristics of the respondents, the nature and frequency of violence experienced, and its impact on emotional health, sleep, and work quality. Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the relevant hospitals. Results. The study showed that over the past 12 months, out of 100 respondents surveyed, 60% reported experiencing violence of any kind from patients and 58% from patient relatives. The highest rates of violence from patients (65.52%, n = 19) and patient relatives (68.97%, n = 20) were reported by healthcare professionals at Panevėžys Republican Hospital. The most common type of violence experienced was psychological. The results of this study showed that doctors were the most affected by this. 76.19% (n = 16) of doctors reported experiencing violence of any kind from patient relatives and 71.43% (n = 15) from patients. The main forms of psychological violence experienced by doctors from patients were threats and unfounded accusations. Violence was the most common cause of stress symptoms. When assessing the impact of violence on sleep, as many as 46% of all respondents reported that their sleep quality suffered due to the violence they experienced. Violence experienced at work did not have a significant impact on motivation. Conclusions. Healthcare professionals face violence of all kinds from both patients and patient relatives, regardless of the hospital in which they work. The most common type of violence experienced is psychological. According to the data from this study, doctors are the most affected by this. Experiencing one or more types of violence in the workplace has a negative impact on the emotional well-being and work quality of healthcare professionals. Keywords: Health care professionals; workplace violence; physical and psychological violence; emotional health. |
