Workplace violence among nurses in general hospitals in Osun State, Nigeria

Background: Workplace violence is gradually becominga concern in the most work environments. It is even so in the health sector and may be adversely affecting service delivery. However, in Nigeria there are limited data on the magnitude of the problem. This study was to determine the prevalence of workplace violence among nurses in General Hospitals, Osun State, Nigeria.Methodology: In this descriptive cross sectional study, data was collected via self-administered questionnaires among 200 consenting nurses of the Clinical Services Division of three selected hospitals to assess their level of awareness and experience of workplace violence. The responses of all 200 were returned and analyzed.Results: Most (89%) of the respondents were aware of workplace violence and majority had experienced (66% ) workplace violence with more than half (86%) of all violent incidents occurring at the Emergency and Out- Patient Departments and especially during the night shifts. Verbal abuse ( 55% ) was the most prevalent while sexual harassment (6%) was the least.Approximately (89.5% ) of the violence experienced were not reported due to the lengthy reporting process.Conclusion: There was work place violence among nurses in General Hospitals in Osun State, Nigeria. The violence was both verbal and physical. It is recommended that there be increased public enlightenment and education on workplace violence among health workers and the public just as nurses are to be trained on client relationshipKey words: Nurses, Workplace, Violence, Hospitals