Violence against nursing workers: repercussions on patient access and safety

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objectives: to analyze the repercussions of violence against nursing professionals, in the access and safety of patients in Family Health Strategy. Methods: a mixed study, with 169 nursing professionals. We used a socio-labor questionnaire, Survey Questionnaire Workplace Violence in the Health Sector, a patient safety instrument and interviews. Results: verbal aggression was related to support (p=0.048), respect (p=0.021), hours of care (p=0.047) and patient safety behaviors (p=0.033) among professionals. Suffering from bullying was related to fear of questioning when something is wrong (p=0.010) and lack of support from management (p=0.016). Victims of physical violence felt that their mistakes could be used against them. Mixed data converge and confirm that violence affects professional behavior and puts Primary Health Care attributes at risk. Conclusions: violence affects workers’ behavior, interferes with the care provided, weakens the access and safety of patients.

Keywords

• Workplace Violence
• Health Services Accessibility
• Patient Safety
• Nursing
• Primary Health Care