Empathy With Patients and Post-Traumatic Stress Response in Verbally Abused Healthcare Workers.
Psychiatry Investig
; 18(8): 770-778, 2021 Aug.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34404121
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The current study examined the differential empathic capacity, post-traumatic symptoms, and coping strategies in healthcare workers (HCWs) according to the exposure of verbal or physical workplace violence (WPV).METHODS:
Using online survey, a total of 422 HCWs employed at a training general hospital of South Korea participated and completed self-reporting questionnaires including the WPV questionnaire with coping strategy, the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy.RESULTS:
Those who experienced either only verbal violence or both physical and verbal violence had lower Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy scores (p<0.05). Posttraumatic stress symptom severity was higher among people who experienced verbal violence than physical violence. HCWs' exposure to verbal violence was associated with severe posttraumatic symptoms and a low level of empathy with patients (p<0.05). More than half of the victims of verbal violence responded that they did not take any action, receive organizational protection, or peer support, while most physically-abused HCWs received institutional intervention or help from others.CONCLUSION:
Our findings highlight the critical importance of reducing verbal violence, which may represent a larger psychological burden compared to physical violence, by actively implementing effective strategies and policies at the institutional level.
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Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
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En
Revista:
Psychiatry Investig
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article