The factors that affect violence against nurses in emergency departments

BACKGROUND: Violence against nurses within healthcare setting is a serious issue of concern within the global healthcare sector. A considerably large percentage of nurses, 30%, in particular, have experienced or witnessed cases of violence in the workplace. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a scoping review on the factors influencing violence against nurses in emergency departments. DESIGN: Literature review. SETTING(S): The SLR was performed in various academic databases namely SpringerLink, Google Scholar, Science Direct, ERIC, and Academic Search Elite. PARTICIPANTS: A total of N = 10 articles were included in the study. METHODS: A scoping/mapping review (SR) was performed in adherence to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis recommendations. RESULTS: The literature review consisted of 10 articles published in the English language within the last 10 yrs (between 2013 and 2022). The studies reviewed utilized various designs. Cross-sectional were 7, Case study was 1, while Qualitative retrospective descriptive studies were 2. The total sample size of all the studies recruited was N = 38, 031 participants. The reviewed literature revealed various factors that contribute to violence against nurses namely the level of a nurse’s experience, low quality of service, unmet expectations, patient or colleague disruptive behaviors, delay in care or waiting time, mistakes in care/errors, degree of pain of the patient, death of a patient, class in roles among colleagues, and high workload and overcrowding. CONCLUSIONS: Violence against nurses is a major problem in the healthcare sector due to its adverse consequences; however, it remains persistent. This study reveals that the main factors of violence against nurses are fewer years of experience as a nurse, level of pain of patients, quality of healthcare service, waiting time, unmet patient expectation, and disagreements among nurses in the workplace.