Explaining Oncology Nurses’ Experiences with Workplace Violence: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Introduction: Workplace violence against nurses is regarded as a continuing and prevalent problem across the world. The purpose of this study was to explain oncology nurses’ experiences with workplace violence. Material and Methods: The present study was fulfilled using qualitative content analysis in 2017 based on purposive sampling method. To this end, semi-structured interviews were performed with 23 oncology nurses from two teaching hospitals located in two neighboring provinces in the North of Iran. Then, the interviews were recorded, transcribed, encoded, classified, and subsequently analyzed according to qualitative content analysis developed by Graneheim and Lundman. The criteria proposed by Guba and Lincoln were further utilized to strengthen this research study. Results: Two main themes and four sub-themes were elicited from data analysis including “imbalance in care supply-demand” and “conflict resolution efforts” with sub-themes of “demand for special care”, “supply of task- focused care”, “aggressive behaviors”, as well as “conflict prevention”. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that failure to meet patients’ care needs could bring about aggression and demonstration of violent behaviors. Given the understanding of patients’ conditions, the nurses also tried to resolve the conflicts mostly via forgiveness and negligence techniques.

Keywords

• oncology nursing
• aggression
• patient
• qualitative research