Abstract:

Background: Violence incidents in health institutions continue to increase day by day. Therefore, it is important to reveal the causes of violence. Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the causes of violence against health workers from the perspective of patient/patient relatives. Methods: The study was conducted in a state hospital by including 287 patients and their relatives admitted to the hospital. The data of the research was collected by a questionnaire form which included individual questions related to about violence information and health workers developed by the researchers in line with the literature. Results: The average age of the participants in the study is 46.58 ± 19.78, 59.6% are women, 46.5% are primary school graduates and 39.9% are housewives. When questioning who is responsible for the violence against the health worker, 58.5% of the participants stated that they were both health workers and patient/patient relatives. From the point of view of the patient / patient relatives, it was found that the reasons for violence were mostly reported in the media against the health workers, the lack of sufficient number of health workers, the health workers not looking at the patients in order, and the patients and their relatives being impatient. In the study, 5.6% of the participants thought that they completely deserved the violence suffered by health workers, and 31.4% partially. It was found that only 8.4% of the individuals concerned with the punishments had information about the criminal procedures related to the violence against the health worker and 76% of them thought that these punishments were not deterrent. 48.4% of the participants think that the news and series in the media increase the tendency of violence against healthcare workers. Conclusion: In conclusion, from the point of view of patient / patient relatives, the causes of violence against health workers are the misdirection of social media, the impatience of the patients and their relatives, and shortage of healthcare workers. In order to reduce violence, it is recommended to use the media effectively, increase social awareness and plan new legal regulations by determining legal deficits.

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