Abstract
AIM: To investigate the incidence of violence and aggression towards staff working in elderly care wards and to consider the factors that influence the risk of experiencing such an incident. METHOD: Questionnaires were administered to 287 nursing and therapy staff within a community health NHS trust in the West Midlands. A response rate of 34% (96) was achieved. RESULTS: Fifty one per cent (49) of staff had experienced an incident of violence or aggression. There was a significant difference between the probability of experiencing violence and the occupation of the participant (chi2 = 0.035), with 65% (31 of 48) of nurses having experienced an incident, compared to only 42% (10 of 24) of occupational therapists and 27% (4 of 15) of physiotherapists. CONCLUSION: This study should be replicated in a wider geographical area and apparent anomalies in frequency of assault by occupation need to be considered in future research.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 35-38 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Nursing Standard |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 27 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2007 |