The Study of Causes, Consequences and Prevalence of Violence Against Staff in Emergency Departments of Teaching Hospitals in Tabriz City

Background and objectives : In order to deliver pleasant and qualified services, a secure environment for the staff in hospitals is needed. Investigations show that violence, which is a threatening factor for the staff safety, decreases the quality of services and makes a lot of expenditure for the hospital. In order to explore the factors of violence against the hospital staff and its consequences, this study aims to investigate the existing situation of emergency rooms among five hospitals in Tabriz city. Material and Methods : This is a cross-sectional study. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire that was made based on the previous studies. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by consulting experts. The questionnaires were distributed to 250 staff from different hospitals. Among them, 110 persons participated in the study. Results : The results showed that 84.5% had faced with violence. Among them, 26.7% were physical violence and 73.3% were verbal abuse, threats and insults. The patients’ relatives made the most amount of violence (85%) and the reporting was done by 53 people (50.5%). Data analysis showed that there is no relationship between demographic characteristics and facing with violence but it showed a significant relationship between the staff’s position (e.g., security guards) and the times of facing with violence. Conclusion : The results were in line with the previous studies regarding investigating the rate of violence, the causing factors and the kinds of violence, but they were against them regarding the relationship between the violence and people’s occupation. Because there is a high degree of violence-facing in emergency sectors of hospitals and based on the consequences this study recommends that the staff needs to be instructed and greater studies are needed to be done.