“We just ignored them.” Adaptation strategies used by emergency department personnel in the face of workplace violence: A qualitative study

Background

Workplace violence (WPV) can have adverse psychological, physical, and emotional effects on emergency department (ED) personnel. Adaptive strategies can help them better adapt to WPV. The study aimed to explore ED personnel’s experiences with adaptive strategies used in the face of WPV.

Methods

In this qualitative study, 22 ED personnel (nurses, doctors, services patient care assistants, and security guards) were selected using purposive sampling from Urmia city hospitals. Deep semi-structured individual face-to-face interviews were used to collect data. After recording and implementing interviews, conventional content analysis was used to extract concepts.

Results

Data analysis led to extracting an overarching theme of “mastering the situation and avoiding harm.” Two categories that supported the main theme were: “effort to avoid violence” and “effort to escape suffering.” The seven subcategories supported main categories included “managing patients and companions, ”self-control,“ ”seeking support, “emotional discharge,” “thought diversion, ”tendency to spirituality,“ and ”seeking medical assistance.“

Conclusion

Given the experiences of ED personnel regarding strategies used, health managers and policymakers are recommended to develop and implement comprehensive programs to reduce violence and empower nurses before and after dealing with violence. The following programs will help: developing and implementing guidelines such as zero-tolerance WPV policy, criminalizing violence against personnel and punishing perpetrators; holding classes related to communication skills, self-control skills, and deviant thinking skills for ED personnel; raising public awareness of the prevailing conditions in the emergency through mass media, and counseling and treating violent ED personnel.