Threats and violence in an emergency department : Nurses experience of threats and violence within an emergency department

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the experience with threats and violence towards nurses working in an emergency department, the respondents coping strategies and if the potential vulnerability to threat and violence, changed the behavior of the nurses. The study was conducted at an emergency department in a hospital in the middle of Sweden. By a strategic selection, 8 nurses, was picked out for the study between the ages of 25–55 years and with the experience of working in an emergency department at least for one year. The study was conducted with semi structured interviews, with audio recording that was transcribed verbatim and was analyzed with an inductive thematic analysis. From the analysis, a different set of themes was identified: “Vulnerability”, “Coping strategies” and “Changed behavior”. To the different themes there was subthemes. The result showed that the respondents experienced threats and violence on a daily basis. Clear routines and education about threats and violence were experienced as an important foundation in terms of preventing threats and violence. The social support from colleagues were significant in terms of coping after an incident.KEYWORDS: Threats