Experiences and attitudes of mental health care staff to the reporting of violence in the workplace in the Republic of Ireland
Introduction The WHO and the Violence Prevention Alliance define violence as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psycho...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2022-06-01
|
| Series: | European Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933822008872/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797617325535395840 |
|---|---|
| author | J. Fegan E. Walsh |
| author_facet | J. Fegan E. Walsh |
| author_sort | J. Fegan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Introduction
The WHO and the Violence Prevention Alliance define violence as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.” The types of violence examined in this study include physical, sexual, verbal and racial as the most commonly reported manifestations of violence in the workplace.
Objectives
To obtain the most recent statistics on violent acts perpetrated against mental health care workers in the Republic of Ireland. To capture the experiences and attitudes of staff to the reporting of this violence.
Methods
The State Claims Agency (SCA) were contacted to obtain the most up to date figures on violence against mental health care workers. An electronic survey based on the WHO’s validated questionnaire on violence was then disseminated to all acute psychiatric units nationally.
Results
There were 6,690 episodes of violence against staff in the Mental Health Division in 2018 and 2019. The survey found, 92.4% of respondents reported verbal abuse, 30.3% recorded physical assault, 15.2% had suffered sexual violence in a 24 month period. 20.3% of study participants took no action. Of those who did, 70% felt that the incident had not been investigated properly. More than half of respondents felt that there were no consequences to the aggressor.
Conclusions
Further work is needed in the prevention of workplace violence as well as improvements in reporting and investigating of incidents when they do occur.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
|
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:54:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1c2c138d59ce4f86a8433e781f42c6d3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0924-9338 1778-3585 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:54:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-1c2c138d59ce4f86a8433e781f42c6d32023-11-17T05:06:04ZengCambridge University PressEuropean Psychiatry0924-93381778-35852022-06-0165S349S34910.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.887Experiences and attitudes of mental health care staff to the reporting of violence in the workplace in the Republic of IrelandJ. Fegan0E. Walsh1Mayo Mental Health Services, Old Age Psychiatry, Castlebar, IrelandMayo Mental Health Services, Old Age Psychiatry, Castlebar, Ireland Introduction The WHO and the Violence Prevention Alliance define violence as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.” The types of violence examined in this study include physical, sexual, verbal and racial as the most commonly reported manifestations of violence in the workplace. Objectives To obtain the most recent statistics on violent acts perpetrated against mental health care workers in the Republic of Ireland. To capture the experiences and attitudes of staff to the reporting of this violence. Methods The State Claims Agency (SCA) were contacted to obtain the most up to date figures on violence against mental health care workers. An electronic survey based on the WHO’s validated questionnaire on violence was then disseminated to all acute psychiatric units nationally. Results There were 6,690 episodes of violence against staff in the Mental Health Division in 2018 and 2019. The survey found, 92.4% of respondents reported verbal abuse, 30.3% recorded physical assault, 15.2% had suffered sexual violence in a 24 month period. 20.3% of study participants took no action. Of those who did, 70% felt that the incident had not been investigated properly. More than half of respondents felt that there were no consequences to the aggressor. Conclusions Further work is needed in the prevention of workplace violence as well as improvements in reporting and investigating of incidents when they do occur. Disclosure No significant relationships. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933822008872/type/journal_articleviolenceWorkplacereporting violencemental health |
| spellingShingle | J. Fegan E. Walsh Experiences and attitudes of mental health care staff to the reporting of violence in the workplace in the Republic of Ireland European Psychiatry violence Workplace reporting violence mental health |
| title | Experiences and attitudes of mental health care staff to the reporting of violence in the workplace in the Republic of Ireland |
| title_full | Experiences and attitudes of mental health care staff to the reporting of violence in the workplace in the Republic of Ireland |
| title_fullStr | Experiences and attitudes of mental health care staff to the reporting of violence in the workplace in the Republic of Ireland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experiences and attitudes of mental health care staff to the reporting of violence in the workplace in the Republic of Ireland |
| title_short | Experiences and attitudes of mental health care staff to the reporting of violence in the workplace in the Republic of Ireland |
| title_sort | experiences and attitudes of mental health care staff to the reporting of violence in the workplace in the republic of ireland |
| topic | violence Workplace reporting violence mental health |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933822008872/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jfegan experiencesandattitudesofmentalhealthcarestafftothereportingofviolenceintheworkplaceintherepublicofireland AT ewalsh experiencesandattitudesofmentalhealthcarestafftothereportingofviolenceintheworkplaceintherepublicofireland |