Managing and preventing acts of violence against health workers: results of a review evaluating hospital control procedures

Purpose Violence against health-care workers represents a public health issue that affects individuals, organizations and may have legal consequences. In Italy, workplace violence (WPV) constitutes a "sentinel event", defined as a particularly serious, potentially avoidable adverse event, which may result in death or serious harm to health-care workers, and which leads to a loss of public confidence in the health-care system. In 2007, the Italian Ministry of Health issued Recommendation No. 8, "Preventing acts of violence against health workers", inviting each Italian Hospital to develop procedures and guidelines for dealing with and preventing acts of aggression. This study aimed at investigating the appropriateness of the procedures and guidelines developed by the Italian hospitals. Design/methodology/approach Procedures on preventing violence against health-care workers published by 29 Italian Hospitals between 2007 and 2020 were collected retrospectively via Web searches and further evaluated according to their compliance with the 2007 Italian ministerial recommendations. Findings A total of 9 documents out of 29 were fully compliant with the 2007 Ministerial Recommendation, 18 were partially compliant, while 2 were totally non-compliant. A total of 24 documents explicitly addressed the management of verbal and physical aggression, whereas 20 set appropriate training on de-escalation techniques for nurses and medical staff. Psychological support was fully considered in 11 procedures, partially considered in 14, while not included at all in 4. Originality/value Public procedures on preventing violence against health-care workers in Italian hospitals are scarcely compliant with the Ministerial Recommendations. The absence of specific instructions to address the needs at territorial level and the lack of support provided to health-care workers is a weak point in the effective management of WPV.