La evaluación de la violencia laboral en el sector sanitario como factor de riesgo psicosocial

Résumé

The aim of the present study is the evaluation of workplace violence in health care workers from three perspectives: users, co-workers and superiors and their impact on psychological health and other psychosocial variables. A protocol was administered to 1.484 nurses and nursing assistants from 11 public hospitals in the Region of Murcia. The protocol includes sociodemographic and sociolabour data. We also evaluated workplace violence, psychological wellbeing, job satisfaction and burnout. It can be concluded that the Hospital Aggressive Behaviour Scale used in this study shows good psychometric properties, with short and easy application and interpretation. This instrument may have an important use in the field of prevention of ocupational risks. Furthermore, results indicate that nurses perceived more hostile behaviours from users, followed by peers and superiors. Summing up, it is noteworthy that a greater perception of violence is related to an affected psychological well-being, less satisfaction and more exhaustion and cynicism is presented. The implications of the results in the prevention and intervention of workplace violence on nurses are discussed.