Violence and Aggression in Operating Room

Introduction: Operating room (OR) is a high-tense working environment from one hand but it is also a place where team work is needed and expected to be done. Good working relationships in operating room field are necessary in order safety and high quality of healthcare to be the standard of everyday practice. Verbal abuse is a common phenomenon that takes place between healthcare professionals and more often between physicians and nurses. Aim of the study: To determine the problem of verbal abuse in Greek Operating Rooms and to investigate its causative factors. Methodology: The study was conducted as a descriptive correlational design. The research population was composed of the nurses working in ORs of hospitals in Greece. 65 OR Registered nurses answered the questionnaire which was sent to them in electronic way (link). Results: The mean age of the nurses was 41.4 ± 6.83 years .OR nurses who participated in the research have been working for a mean period of 12.7 ± 7.82 years. The most of the nurses (92.4%) stated that they have been experienced verbal abuse in the workplace. The participants in 56.9% said they have taken some kind of formal training in communication skills. 1/3 of the sample (35.4%) who took part in this study were victims of verbal violence more than once a year and also roughly the same percentage (27.7%) believes that nurses confronted with verbal violence more than once weekly. The relationship between abuser and victim as a large percentage of 23.1% specify was a "physician". OR nurses experience frequent and severe levels of verbal abuse. Conclusion: This study’s findings indicated that the most common emotional reactions toward verbal abuse reported by OR nurses was anger followed by disgust, sadness and shock. It is imperative that OR nurses obtain special training in the recognition, management and development of strategies to deal with verbal abuse.