Nurses' Experience With Type II Workplace Violence and Underreporting During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background Type II (customer-on-worker) workplace violence (WPV) against nurses and its underreporting are ongoing safety and health challenges in health care. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained patients and nurses and, in turn, may have increased WPV. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe and compare a sample of nurses' reported prevalence of Type II WPV and their reporting of these events during the pandemic. Methods Data from an online survey of registered nurses (N = 373) working in hospitals were included. Prevalence was calculated for physical violence and verbal abuse, and their reporting of these events, including the experience of violence between nurses who did and did not care for patients with COVID-19. Findings Overall, 44.4% and 67.8% of the nurses reported experiencing physical violence and verbal abuse, respectively, between February and May/June 2020. Nurses who provided care for patients with COVID-19 experienced more physical violence (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.30, 3.67]) and verbal abuse (aOR = 2.10, 95% CI = [1.22, 3.61]) than nurses who did not care for these patients. One in 10 nurses felt reporting the incident was more difficult during the pandemic. Conclusion/Application to Practice A significant proportion of nurses who cared for patients with COVID-19 experienced more physical violence and verbal abuse, and more difficulty in reporting to management. As the pandemic continues, health care organizations need to recognize that workers may be at an elevated risk for experiencing WPV and may be less likely to report, resulting in an urgent need for prevention efforts on their part.

Automated summary

This study investigated Type II workplace violence against nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that nurses caring for COVID-19 patients were more likely to experience physical violence and verbal abuse, and faced greater difficulty in reporting incidents.