Violence towards health workers in the workplace: exploratory findings in secondary healthcare facilities in Kaduna metropolis, Northern Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of workplace violence and associated factors in secondary health facilities in Kaduna Metropolis.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study where a semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from 177 health workers who were selected by multistage sampling. The Data was analyzed using SPSS version 23 and results were presented using frequency tables. The Chi-square test was used to test for association between independent and dependent variables. Fisher’s Exact Test was used where more than 20% of the cells had a value less than 5.  The level of statistical significance was set at a p-value of <0.05.

Results: The results showed that 114 (64.4%) of the respondents had experienced workplace violence; the form which was experienced by most of the respondents was verbal abuse 100 (87.7%). Most (92; 80.7%) of the respondents did nothing following the incident. Most of the respondents believed that lack of bed space 89 (50.3%) and long waiting time 119 (67.3%) are largely responsible for violent situations. There was a statistically significant relationship between the experience of workplace violence and respondents’ age (p=0.001); sex (p=0.00146); cadre (p=0.0012) and work experience (p=0.00483).

Conclusion: Most of the respondents had experienced violence in the workplace but did not pursue further action. Training health workers on the means to identify volatile situations and address workplace violence is crucial to ensuring the reduction in the prevalence of harmful incidents. The safety and protection of health workers are integral to the adequate functioning of health systems.