Workplace violence among Iraqi hospital nurses

Purpose: To investigate (a) the occurrence and frequency of physical workplace violence among Iraqi hospital nurses as well as the complaints and responses of nurses to such violence; (b) measures and policies in the workplace to deal with violence; and (c) factors that contribute to the workplace violence and the strategies to prevent them from Iraqi nurses' perspective. Design and Methods: A descriptive exploratory survey was used. The structured interview technique was used for collecting data from a purposive sample of 116 Iraqi nurses. An adapted version of the original instrument that was developed by the International Labor Office (ILO), the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Public Services International (PSI) on Workplace Violence in the Health Sector was used. Results: Forty-nine of 116 participants reported that they have been physically attacked at work. Few employers had specific policies on workplace violence. Conclusions: The results of the study indicated the importance of adopting hospital policies for dealing with incidents of violence and legislation to subject aggressors to judicial punishment.