Correlation between Workplace Violence against Maternity Nurses during Covid19 Pandemic and their Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Background: Workplace violence poses a significant and complex challenge within healthcare environments, particularly amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Compounded by limited understanding of the COVID-19 epidemic, inadequate access to personal protective equipment, and absence of clear diagnostic and treatment guidelines for patients, nurses experience a substantial burden, leading to job dissatisfaction and subsequently impacting the quality of care provided to women. This study aimed to investigate the association between workplace violence against maternity nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic and their level of job satisfaction. Study design: A descriptive correlational research design was adopted for this study. Setting: The study was carried out at Ain Shams University Maternity Hospital. Sample: The sample consisted of 180 maternity nurses, selected through a convenient sampling method. Data Collection Instruments: The study employed two data collection tools: an Arabic Structured Interviewing Questionnaire and the Satisfaction of Employees in Healthcare Scale (SEHC). Results: The findings revealed that 61.3% of maternity nurses encountered verbal violence in the workplace approximately once a week. Additionally, 33.0% of nurses experienced physical violence in the workplace roughly every 6 months. Furthermore, maternity nurses identified risk factors for exposure to workplace violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, including insufficient response to reported incidents (78.3%), overcrowding (77.4%), and prolonged waiting times (77.4%). Furthermore, a significant number of maternity nurses indicated that workplace violence often goes unreported due to a perceived lack of action against perpetrators (55.7%) and insufficient support for reporting incidents (53.8%). Moreover, only 26.3% of maternity nurses reported job satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: The study findings underscore that a considerable portion of maternity nursing staff encounter workplace violence, predominantly in the form of verbal and physical aggression. Additionally, a substantial majority of maternity nurses expressed dissatisfaction with their job. Importantly, a robust positive association (p=0.001**) was established between the total workplace violence score and job satisfaction among maternity nurses. Recommendations: Based on these results, the study proposes the implementation of a comprehensive violence prevention program tailored to maternity nurses. This program aims to enhance their professional safety, bolster job satisfaction, and ultimately improve the overall quality of care provided.