Hospital staff responses to workplace violence in a psychiatric hospital in Taiwan

We surveyed 222 nurses, nursing assistants, and clerks at a psychiatric hospital in Taiwan on responses to workplace violence, treatment of violent patients, and reporting behavior. Staff reported 78 incidents of physical violence (PV), 113 of verbal abuse (VA), 35 of bullying/ mobbing (BM), 21 of sexual harassment (SH), and 10 of racial harassment (RH) over the course of one year. Among affected staff, only 31% of those experiencing PV and <10% of those experiencing other categories of violence completed a formal report. Highest levels of reporting to senior staff were among those affected by SH. Patients who were physically violent were more likely to be injected with medication than patients showing other violent behaviors. More VA-affected staff considered the incident not important enough to report. Other reasons for not reporting the incident were fear of negative consequences, especially for BM, and shame for SH. Reliable systems for responding to and reporting patient violence should be developed.