Workplace violence against women nurses working in two public sector hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Cultural and structural forces help sustain workplace violence (WPV) against feminized professions like nursing in Pakistan. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence and patterns of workplace violence (WPV) against women nurses (more than 95% of entire nursing population) in two hospitals of Pakistan. Methods: A standardized international survey developed by the World Health Organization was used to collect cross-sectional data. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, andmultivariate regression were used for data analysis. A total of 309 nurse respondentswere sampled fromtwo public sector tertiary care hospitals of Lahore. Results: Findings show that 73.1% of nurses reported experiencing some sort of violence in the last 12months; with 53.4% suffering from physical violence, 57.3% fromverbal violence, and 26.9% fromsexual violence. Themain perpetratorswere reported to be male coworkers, patients, and attendants. Higher risk for WPV includes single status, non-Punjabi provincial belonging, Islamic faith, staff and student nurse designations, temporary government contract, and working additional hours in the evening and night. The primary response to violence included not doing anything and remaining silent. It was also reported that nurse victims experienced moderate levels of emotional grievances after facing violence. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that public sector hospitals in the region need to improve their policy for the protection and monitoring of WPV against female nurses. Reporting and counseling bodies need to be installed to encourage both complaints and the seeking of medical attention after victimization.