Assaults on health personnel and the effect of victimization Indirect on the psychological and physical well-being of workers

Abstract

Physical and verbal aggressions can frequently occur in the workplace during the career of workers of public healthcare services. Numerous studies show the effects of these events on the psycho-physical health of the victims but the indirect effect that this violence can cause has not yet been studied. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of indirect victimization on the levels of work stress in a sample of workers of the University Hospital of Siena. Two hundred ninety-seven workers completed online questionnaires on direct/indirect victimization experiences in the workplace and burnout dimensions assessed by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). A two-way MANOVA model was used to analyse the effect of physical and verbal direct/indirect victimization on the levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Physical victimization had a significant effect on all MBI dimensions, while verbal victimization had a significant impact on emotional exhaustion and depersonalization but not on personal accomplishment. Indirect victimization due to verbal aggressions had a significant effect on depersonalization. Aggressions in the workplace should be addressed by prevention and risk management strategies to protect healthcare workers from violent events and to allow their perception of a safe work environment to be preserved.

Keywords

• aggression
• burnout
• healthcare services
• indirect victimization