Nursing and aggression in the workplace: A systematic review

Karen Leigh Edward, Karen Ousey, Philip Warelow, Steve Lui

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

198 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Personal experiences of aggression or violence in the workplace lead to serious consequences for nurses, their patients, patient care and the organisation as a whole. While there is a plethora of research on this topic, no review is available that identifies types of aggression encountered, individuals perceived to be most at risk and coping strategies for victims. The aim of this systematic review was to examine occupational anxiety related to actual aggression in the workplace for nurses. Databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO) were searched, resulting in 1543 titles and abstracts. After removal of duplicates and non-relevant titles, 137 papers were read in full. Physical aggression was found to be most frequent in mental health, nursing homes and emergency departments while verbal aggression was more commonly experienced by general nurses. Nurses exposed to verbal or physical abuse often experienced a negative psychological impact post incident.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)653-659
Number of pages7
JournalBritish Journal of Nursing
Volume23
Issue number12
Early online date25 Jun 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Jun 2014

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