TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2007//
TI  - Incidence and related factors of violence in emergency departments--a study of nurses in southern Taiwan
JO  - Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
A1  - Tang, Jing-Shia
A1  - Chen, Chien-Lung
A1  - Zhang, Zhi-Ran
A1  - Wang, Lili
SP  - 748
EP  - 758
VL  - 106
IS  - 9
N2  - BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Nurses in emergency departments are high-risk groups who are most likely to experience the offense of violent behaviors. In a comparison on the occurrence of verbal and physical abuses in emergency departments, this study aimed to analyze the correlation of staff properties and occupational conditions in an attempt to provide a reference on violence prevention. METHODS: Eleven hospitals in southern Taiwan were selected and a survey of 267 nurses was conducted. The results were analyzed by percentage, Pearsons chi2 test and logistic regression. RESULTS: The 236 valid questionnaires showed that nurses experienced significantly more verbal abuse (92%) than physical abuse (30%). The highest occurrence of verbal abuse was 49% in night shift, and the physical abuse was 44% in overnight shift. Long waiting (89%), difference in cognition (87%), and lack of communication (82%) were the common causes. The occurrences of verbal abuse and physical abuse were significantly correlated to less-informed (odds ratio [OR], 1.67 and 1.22, respectively) and basic-level nurses (OR, 2.30 and 1.34, respectively). In addition, younger age (OR, 2.80; p &lt; 0.01) and single status (OR, 9.09; p &lt;0.05) were correlated with occurrence of verbal abuse, but not of physical abuse. The test on occupational conditions showed a significant correlation (OR, 0.68/0.44; p &lt; 0.005) between the occurrence of verbal/physical abuse and whether supervisors could provide enough training to cope with violence. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that a well-informed nurse should be arranged to take the night/overnight shifts in order to reduce the occurrence of abuses in emergency departments.     <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0929-6646
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -