Analysis of Aggressive Behavior Towards Healthcare Workers Before and During the Sars-Cov-2 Epidemic in Poland. Part 1

Abstract

Aim: To analyze aggressive behavior towards healthcare workers before and during the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Poland and confront the obtained results with reports on this phenomenon from the scientific world. Material and methods: The study included 999 respondents constituting healthcare workers from all over Poland. The proprietary questionnaire consisting of three parts was the research tool. Results: 86% of healthcare personnel encountered violence in the workplace before announcing the epidemic state, and 81% – during the epidemic state. Respondents indicated that the frequency of this phenomenon increased significantly after that date. Patients were the most frequent offenders. Conclusions: Aggression being a relatively constant and unchanging problem in healthcare, according to the authors, requires the development of new, more effective solutions to improve the situation of victims. Encouraging staff to report aggressive behaviors and actively supporting them in these actions could lead to more frequent legal consequences for aggressors, increasing the chance for more respectful treatment of medical staff and disrupting the false sense of impunity in perpetrators.