VIOLENCE TO STAFF IN A GENERAL-HOSPITAL SETTING

The problem of aggression to staff in a general hospital was examined from the perspective of Poyner & Warne's (1986) model of workplace vio lence, A total of 396 staff (39% response rate) provided information o n their experience of violence in the past year and a subsample were a dditionally interviewed about their current levels of mental health (G HQ). Some 72 staff (21% of respondents) had been physically assaulted and 90% of these assaulted staff worked beyond the accident and emerge ncy department, e.g. in medical wards. Nurses were physically assaulte d, threatened and verbally abused at higher rates than other professio nals. Employee factors (younger age, shorter National Health Service e xperience and attendance at violence training) were significantly asso ciated with assault (P < 0.05). Postoperative confusion, receiving tre atment and delayed treatment were common precursors of aggression. Men tal health was significantly worse amongst staff exposed to threats (P < 0.01). This exploratory study establishes that violence is a proble m across a number of general hospital departments and occupations and we argue that effective training should be made more available for sta ff at risk of assault.