Healthcare Under Attack

Aim: Social media triggers an increase in violent incidents in all occupational groups, especially in the health sector.The aim of our study is to identify preventable causes of violence against healthcare workers and reveal the measures that can be taken.Materials and Methods: Survey questions that would reveal the biopsychosocial effects of violent events were asked to healthcare professionals, and the answers were recorded.Results: A total of 1006 healthcare workers were included in the study.While 87.8% of the healthcare workers stated that they were exposed to verbal violence, 17.8% indicated that they were exposed to physical violence.While 79.9% of the female healthcare workers stated that violent news on social media increases violence in healthcare, the majority of the healthcare workers stated that the news is not reflected objectively.Nurses experienced the highest rate of verbal violence at 90.2% and applied code white (code violet) the most frequently at a rate of 36.6%. Conclusion:It is noticeable that the number of cases of violence in the health sector has increased due to unconfirmed news and misinformation on social media.Almost all healthcare workers stated that they were subjected to violence at least once in their working lives, and that they wanted to change their field of work.To improve working conditions and prevent violence, the competent authorities should immediately implement the necessary penal actions that are also deterrent.