User Violence and Psychological Well-being in Primary Health-Care Professionals

Abstract

It is estimated that one fourth of workplace violent incidents occur in the health sector. The aims of the present investigation are: a) to identify sociodemographic and work variables related to exposure to user violence in primary care professionals and b) to analyze the impact of exposure to user violence on professionals’ psychological well-being, job satisfaction, and empathy. An empirical study with quantitative, descriptive, and transversal methodology was carried out with a sample of 574 professionals from 39 primary-care centers. The study revealed that variables of gender, professional tenure, continued training, and professional status are significantly associated with exposure to user violence. Likewise, the results show that depending on professional status exposure to user violence, job satisfaction and professionals’ empathy have an impact on primary health-care workers’ General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) scores. In conclusion, exposure to non-physical user violence in primary-care professionals is associated with some sociodemographic and work characteristics.

Keywords

• Aggression
• Health staff
• Job satisfaction
• Primary health-care
• Psychological well-being
• Workplace violence