<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<bold>Introduction.</bold> Hospital emergency departments (ED) are places of the highest aggression rates towards staff. In Poland, in the case of violent behavior personnel can exercise the right to legal protection reserved to public officials. To be able to exercise it, personnel should document the course of violent behavior they were subject to.
<bold>Aim.</bold> The aim of the study was to examine whether the staff of ED document violent behavior they are subject to in the workplace and to answer the question: what factors are they taking into account while reporting or not violent behavior incidents.
<bold>Methods.</bold> The study was conducted among medical personnel of six hospital ED in Poland. A total of 282 health care professionals took part in the study. The diagnostic survey method was applied. The data was compiled using Statistica PL and Microsoft Excel software.
<bold>Results.</bold> 43.3% of respondents always document cases of violent behavior and 5.3% never do it. The personnel document aggression mainly for the purpose of their own safety - 44.8%. 40% of respondents who do not document acts of aggression consider it pointless.
<bold>Conclusions.</bold> Cases of aggression are registered in medical records by nearly every second person of medical professional. The reasons for documenting cases of aggression include: concern for own safety, procedures in force in the unit, fear of further consequences.
</abstract>

Introduction. Hospital emergency departments (ED) are places of the highest aggression rates towards staff. In Poland, in the case of violent behavior personnel can exercise the right to legal protection reserved to public officials. To be able to exercise it, personnel should document the course of violent behavior they were subject to.
Aim. The aim of the study was to examine whether the staff of ED document violent behavior they are subject to in the workplace and to answer the question: what factors are they taking into account while reporting or not violent behavior incidents.
Methods. The study was conducted among medical personnel of six hospital ED in Poland. A total of 282 health care professionals took part in the study. The diagnostic survey method was applied. The data was compiled using Statistica PL and Microsoft Excel software.
Results. 43.3% of respondents always document cases of violent behavior and 5.3% never do it. The personnel document aggression mainly for the purpose of their own safety - 44.8%. 40% of respondents who do not document acts of aggression consider it pointless.
Conclusions. Cases of aggression are registered in medical records by nearly every second person of medical professional. The reasons for documenting cases of aggression include: concern for own safety, procedures in force in the unit, fear of further consequences.

Documenting patient’s violent behavior by medical staff of hospital emergency departments

Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences

Nicolaus Copernicus University, University Hospital no.2 in Bydgoszcz

Department of Patient Service and Quality Management

Jan Biziel University Hospital no.2 in Bydgoszcz

Clinical Department of Emergency Medicine

Department of Perioperative Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences

, Nicolaus Copernicus University, University Hospital no.2 in Bydgoszcz

Pielegniarstwo  XXI wieku / Nursing in the 21st Century

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Introduction. Hospital emergency departments (ED) are places of the highest aggression rates towards staff. In Poland, in the case of violent behavior...

Documenting patient’s violent behavior by medical staff of hospital emergency departments

Published Online: May 26, 2021

Page range: 105 - 116

Received: Sep 03, 2020

Accepted: Dec 20, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pielxxiw-2021-0014

Keywords
aggression, workplace violence, documenting violent behavior, hospital emergency department

© 2021 Anna Burak et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Documenting patient’s violent behavior by medical staff of hospital emergency departments

Published Online: May 26, 2021

Page range: 105 - 116

Received: Sep 03, 2020

Accepted: Dec 20, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pielxxiw-2021-0014

Keywordsaggression, workplace violence, documenting violent behavior, hospital emergency department

© 2021 Anna Burak et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
aggression, workplace violence, documenting violent behavior, hospital emergency department