Workplace violence toward female nurses by patients and healthcare workers in Kurdistan Region: a cross-sectional study

The increase of workplace violence (WPV) globally directed at nurses has become a primary issue of concern for many researchers. The present study was conducted to investigate WPV against female nurses coming from both patients and healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Kurdistan Region. A total of 257 female nurses working in different hospital units participated in the survey of this study, which determined the types of WPV such as physical assault, verbal abuse, and sexual, racial, and gender harassment through a convenient sampling method. The mean age of the nurses was 35.02 years. They were selected from different age groups and education levels, marital statuses, ranks, and experiences. The nurses were employed in the public sector (76.27%), and 23.73% worked in both the public and private sectors. Most of the nurses were working in the morning (44.36%) or were shift rotators (49.03%) and living in urban (88.72%) or rural (11.28%) areas. The study showed that the prevalence of WPV types during their whole career time was 65.37% (verbal abuse), 45.91% (bullying), 37.74% (physical assault), 30.74% (gender harassment), 22.96% (sexual harassment), and 16.34% (racial harassment). The study found that the nurses who did provide the general medical care were more likely to be exposed to physical assault (53.91% vs. 24.46%; p < 0.0001), verbal abuse (77.39% vs. 56.12%; p = 0.0004), bullying (36.52% vs. 12.23%; p < 0.0001), and gender harassment (39.13% vs. 24.46%; p = 0.0119). The current study concluded that WPV against female nurses in public hospitals in the Kurdistan Region is widespread. The most frequently reported types of violence included verbal abuse, bullying, physical assault, sexual harassment, and racial harassment. We suggested the urgent need for institutional prevention policies within public hospitals in the Kurdistan Region (e.g., written zero-tolerance policies toward all forms of violence), strengthening training and capacity-building programs for nurses, and establishing confidential, easy-to-use reporting systems.