Abstract

Objective: The number and severity of violence in the health sector are increasing day by day. In many studies on violence in the healthcare sector, security and support service staff working in hospitals have been ignored. However, these people are also exposed to violence significantly. This study’s primary purpose is to determine the frequency and characteristics of violence that the security and support service staffs are exposed to in the emergency department (ED) and other healthcare units.

Methods: This is a survey based, cross-sectional and descriptive study. Security staff and support services staff (data-entry clerk, cleaning, and patient transfer) were included in the study. Surveyors filled out the survey form face-to-face method. The violence was analyzed in four categories in this study: Physical, verbal, psychological, and sexual violence.

Results: After agreeing to participate, 439 volunteers included the study. The number of participants exposed to violence at least once during their work-life was 283 (64.5%), and exposed in the last year was 220 (50.1%). The rate of exposure to any violence in the last year was 75.7% for security staff, 42.9% for patient transfer staff, 32.5% for cleaning staff, and 47.5% for data-entry clerks. Being a security guard and working in the ED were identified as the most important factors for exposure to violence. Participants (n=335, 76.3%) mostly stated that the reason for the increase in violence in healthcare settings is the “density/crowd in hospitals and the related long waiting durations”. The anxiety level about being exposed to violence while working was found to be higher in the ED staff (5 points on Likert type scale; 36.1% versus 23.7%; p=0.033).

Conclusion: The security and support service staff are frequently exposed to violence. Cautions should be taken to minimize the violence to which the staff is exposed; harsher punishments should be deterrent and applied immediately.