The Public’s View of Increasing Violence toward Healthcare Staff

We investigated the public’s view of increasing violence in the healthcare sector, their opinions on violence, the underlying causes of violence, and the possible ways of preventing violence.

Materials and Methods:

This study was conducted between November 2012 and February 2013 in central Gaziantep, Turkey. We conducted a face-to-face survey with 1600 respondents who closely resembled the general structure of the population.

Results:

The most common causes underlying violent behavior were failure of the healthcare staff to perform their tasks properly (15.9%) and prolonged waiting times (15%). In total, 20.3% of the respondents considered violence as a method of securing rights. The issue that disturbed the respondents most (28%) was being unable to find someone who would listen to them, whereas 13.3% believed that the doctor should be beaten or killed when a patient died.

Conclusion:

A large proportion of those surveyed viewed violence toward healthcare professionals as a method of securing rights. (JAEM 2015; 14: 19-25)

Keywords:

Healthcare staff, violence, public’s view, media, education