Pattern and Impact of Workplace Violence on Healthcare Professionals in Public Teaching Hospitals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Dabota Yvonne Buowari, Vivian Ifeoma OgbonnaAbstract
Introduction:
Workplace violence occurs in all work settings, but some sectors are more affected than others. The worst affected are workers who render service to the public, especially in healthcare. The consequences of violence against healthcare workers can be severe, including physical harm, emotional trauma, decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover rates. Nigeria’s healthcare system faces numerous challenges, including inadequate funding, insufficient staffing and poor infrastructure. These challenges can contribute to a stressful work environment, increasing the risk of violence against healthcare workers.
Aim:
To ascertain the pattern of workplace violence and its impact on the victims.
Materials and Methods:
This is a cross-sectional study conducted in 2025 in two publicly owned teaching hospitals in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Results:
The number of research participants was 649. Proportionate allocation was used to determine the number of healthcare workers to be recruited. There were more persons aged 20–29 years, 35.0%, with 63.0% females. The most common form of violence was verbal, 66.4%, and the least was sexual harassment, 1.0%. Among victims of physical assault, 5.5% were attacked with a weapon, and 95.9% were not injured. The incident had a psychological impact on the victim. The impact of the incident was anger (59.0%), fear (11.9%), reduced job morale (8.5%), reduced job satisfaction (4.8%) while 15.7% reported no impact.
Conclusion:
Verbal abuse is the most common form of workplace violence, whereas most healthcare professionals were not sexually harassed. The incident negatively affected the victims and their jobs.