Abstract
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, n.d.) defines workplace violence to include "any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.” Workplace violence is a developing challenge within health care settings following the adversities encountered with behavioral issues acknowledged after the pandemic. Workplace violence includes physical episodes, verbal episodes, threats, and sexual harassment experiences, yet remains underreported (NIOSH, 2020). Nurses and nurse aides are two groups who are at the highest risk of becoming victims of violence due to their involvement with direct patient care. An acute care agency has conducted an IRB approved survey related to workplace violence on three different occasions, pre and post pandemic. The survey tool utilized with permission was the same survey used by the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies in 2016. This tool was used so the Hospital could benchmark against statewide reported results.
Two of the questions on the survey speak to the reporting process. For each of the surveys when asked about their reporting of incidents, the percentage of participants was strongly skewed toward the not reporting of any incidents. When asked why they did not report workplace violence incidents, the primary answers related to the expectation to accept the situation rather than confront it. These nurses viewed workplace violence incidents with patients and visitors as aspects which needed to be accepted as part of the workplace. Incidents involving physicians were seen as not having any positive outcomes. When these findings were discussed with frontline nurses, the discussion focused on the need to change the culture concerning workplace violence and the reporting of incidences. This session will discuss the literature surrounding the reporting of incidents along with measures to consider related to changing the healthcare culture. The idea nurses just need to accept the workplace violence episodes, particularly associated with patients, visitors, and physicians must be addressed industry wide. Nurses must not be expected to accept unsafe working conditions because the person is not responsible for their actions due to cognitive impairment, substance abuse, mental health issues, emotional distress, or power hunger expectations.
Notes
References: Arnetz, J.E., Hamblin, L., Russell, J., Luborsky, M., Janisse, J., & Essenmacher, L., (2017). Preventing patient-to-worker violence in hospitals: Outcomes of a randomized controlled intervention. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59(1). pp. 18-27. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000909.
Ayasreb, I.R. & Hayajneb, F.A., (2021). Workplace violence against emergency nurses: A literature review. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 44(2), pp. 187-202. doi: 10.1097/CNQ.0000000000000353.
Brous, E., (2018). Workplace Violence: How it affects health care, which providers are most affected, and what management and staff can do about it. AJN, 118(10). pp. 51-55.
Hartley, D., Ridenour, M., Craine, J., & Costa, B., (2012). Workplace violence prevention for healthcare workers – An online course. Rehabilitation Nursing , 37(4). pp 202-206.
Keller, A.R., Kanaley, R.L., & Starr. T. (2021). Addressing and recognizing pediatric inpatient aggression utilizing an interprofessional quality team approach. Pediatric Quality and Safety, 5S,(6), pp. 1-2. doi: 10.1097/pq9.0000000000000489.
Lockhart, L. (2020, July/August). Reporting workplace violence. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy. pg. 56. Doi: 10.1097/01.NME.0000668360.78166.7a
McCright, M., Blair, M., Applegate, B., Griggs, P., Backus, M., & Pabico, C. (2019, August). Addressing workplace violence with the pathway to excellence framework. Nursing Management, pp. 10-13. doi: 10-1097/01.NUMA.0000558480.62072.24
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH), (2020). Workplace Violence Prevention for Nurses. https://wwwn.cdc.gov/WPVHC/Nurses/Course/Slide/Home
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (n.d.). Safety and Health Topics: Healthcare Workplace Violence. https://www.osha.gov/healthcare/workplace-violence/
Perkins, M., Wood, L., Soler, T., Walker, K., Morata, L., Novotny, A., & Estep, H., (2020). Inpatient nurses’ perception of workplace violence based on specialty. JONA, 50(10). pp. 515-520. doi: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000000927.
Sigma Membership
Delta Kappa
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Workplace Violence, WPV, Workplace Violence -- Prevention and Control, Incident Reports, Nurse Attitudes, Occupational Safety
Recommended Citation
Powers, Rebekah and Boswell, Carol, "Reporting Workplace Violence: Why Is It a Challenge?" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 107.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/107
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-02-27
Funder(s)
Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)
Reporting Workplace Violence: Why Is It a Challenge?
Washington, DC, USA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, n.d.) defines workplace violence to include "any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.” Workplace violence is a developing challenge within health care settings following the adversities encountered with behavioral issues acknowledged after the pandemic. Workplace violence includes physical episodes, verbal episodes, threats, and sexual harassment experiences, yet remains underreported (NIOSH, 2020). Nurses and nurse aides are two groups who are at the highest risk of becoming victims of violence due to their involvement with direct patient care. An acute care agency has conducted an IRB approved survey related to workplace violence on three different occasions, pre and post pandemic. The survey tool utilized with permission was the same survey used by the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies in 2016. This tool was used so the Hospital could benchmark against statewide reported results.
Two of the questions on the survey speak to the reporting process. For each of the surveys when asked about their reporting of incidents, the percentage of participants was strongly skewed toward the not reporting of any incidents. When asked why they did not report workplace violence incidents, the primary answers related to the expectation to accept the situation rather than confront it. These nurses viewed workplace violence incidents with patients and visitors as aspects which needed to be accepted as part of the workplace. Incidents involving physicians were seen as not having any positive outcomes. When these findings were discussed with frontline nurses, the discussion focused on the need to change the culture concerning workplace violence and the reporting of incidences. This session will discuss the literature surrounding the reporting of incidents along with measures to consider related to changing the healthcare culture. The idea nurses just need to accept the workplace violence episodes, particularly associated with patients, visitors, and physicians must be addressed industry wide. Nurses must not be expected to accept unsafe working conditions because the person is not responsible for their actions due to cognitive impairment, substance abuse, mental health issues, emotional distress, or power hunger expectations.
Description
Episodes of workplace violence continue to increase, even as organizations put measures in place to protect nurses. Yet workplace violence continues to be underreported by nurses and viewed as part of the job. This session will discuss how one organization engaged nurses to report workplace violence and improve safety.