Violence Towards Healthcare Workers in Turkey: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective: This study was held with the aim of reviewing studies published between January 1999 and July 2010 about violence against healthcare workers in Turkey and systematically analysing data obtained from the studies. Material and Methods: A total of 41 national and international publications related to subject under investigation were reached and of them, 29 were evaluated as part of the study according to inclusion criteria. Results: Results were obtained by focusing on the methods of the studies and the content of the reported violence events. It was found that every kind of violence was frequent towards healthcare workers, violence was most commonly shown by relatives of the patients followed by the patients themselves. In general, it was found that women were more risky in terms of being subjected to verbal violence, men were more risky in terms of being subjected to physical violence, again women and nurses were risky in terms of being subjected to both verbal and physical violence, aggressors were more commonly males, causes of violence were mainly related to organizational problems, ratio of reporting physical violence was higher than those of other violence types, emotional and physiologic signs were most commonly seen in victims after assault and generally inadequate coping mechanisms were used. Conclusion: Systematic review of related studies has produced scientific evidences on the importance and magnitude of problem. It is believed that these evidences will function both in determination of content of future researches and taking precautions needed for solving problem.