Workplace Violence among Healthcare Workers in Public Hospitals of East Shoa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

<p>Sileshi Garoma and Daniel Tolessa</p>

doi:10 .4172/2327-4581.1000411

Workplace Violence among Healthcare Workers in Public Hospitals of East Shoa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Sileshi Garoma and Daniel Tolessa

Adama Hospital medical College, Ethiopia

: J Forensic Toxicol Pharmacol

Abstract

Workplace violence in the health sector is a worldwide concern with healthcare workers being at high risk of being victims. Although interest in Workplace violence in the health sector has grown considerably within the developed world, it still appears to be an unrecognized issue in many developing countries including Ethiopia. The objective was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of workplace violence against healthcare workers in public hospitals of East Shoa Zone of Oromia Region, Ethiopia from March to August, 2017. Hospital based crosssectional study was conducted using quantitative data collection method. About 261 healthcare workers who have direct communication with patients/clients were selected from four Public hospitals. Data was collected using selfadministered questionnaire. The collected data was doubleentered into EPI-INFO version 3.3.1 statistical packages and exported in to SPSS version 21 for analysis. It was principally analysed using logistic regression models after checking all the assumptions to be fulfilled. The prevalence of workplace violence among healthcare workers was 70.2%. Pphysical violence accounted for 22.5%, verbal abuse for 65.1% and sexual abuse for 4.1%. Types of health institutions (AOR, 6.79; 95%CI: 2.98, 15.45), work experience (AOR, 2.76; 95%CI: 1.31, 5.89), professional category (AOR, 0.32; 95%CI: 0.10, 0.98), frequent interaction with patients (AOR, 3.13; 95%CI: 1.08, 9.04), and wornness about violence (AOR, 2.65; 95%CI: 1.02, 7.08) were predictors of workplace violence among healthcare workers. A significant proportion of healthcare workers faced workplace violence. Types of health institutions, work experience, professional category, having frequent interaction, and wornness about violence were factors significantly associated with workplace violence among healthcare workers in the study area. Policy makers and stakeholders should focus on workplace violence prevention strategies.