Radiographers’ experience of violence and aggression in a major South Wales accident and emergency department.

Background. Violence & aggression in the workplace is a growing problem worldwide. The healthcare sector is particularly affected with staff in the accident & emergency (A&E) department being the most at risk. Investigation has centred on medical staff in particular with a distinct lack of research regarding radiographers. The aim of this study was to gather the opinion of radiographers on their experience of violence and aggression in A&E. Method. The sample was chosen by use of convenience sampling, thus the sample group consisted of all radiographers (n=31) in a major trauma centre in South Wales. The data was collected by a self administered questionnaire and good internal consistency reliability was found using Crohnbach’s alpha test. The questionnaire was piloted and readability issues were rectified for the final questionnaire. Face and content validity were assured by the use of a focus group and reviewing appropriate literature. Results. 94% (n=29) of respondents had experienced violence & aggression at least once. Also it seems that radiographers have little knowledge of the Welsh Assembly Government violence & aggression passport. In addition, some respondents (n=19) felt that training should have an increased “hands on” approach and only 12 respondents reported high confidence of dealing with physical aggression following training. Conclusions. The study shows that violence & aggression is an alarming issue for A&E radiographers and is a greater problem than has been found previously. Additionally, it appears that even with training, there is a low level of confidence in dealing with physical violence