Violence against physicians and nurses on the workplace in Kuwait

Workplace violence by definition is a violent act (including physical assault and threats of assault) directed toward persons at work. Workplace violence in the health care sector may lead to poor quality of care, turnover and absenteeism of healthcare professionals, reducing health services available to the general public, unhealthy work environment, improper societal behaviors, increasing health costs, and deterioration of staff’s health. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Kuwait in one year (January 2020 to January 2021) in 50 PHC centers in five health regions in Kuwait and surveyed 446 participants (220 physicians, 226 nurses) who have been working in PHC centers for at least a year and have regular contact with patients or clients by using a designed WHO self-administered questionnaire. The frequency and consequences of physical and psychological violence among physicians and nurses in PHC centers were investigated. As a result, 6.4% of the respondents had experienced physical violence and 77.3% had experienced psychological violence divided into 48.8% verbal Abuse, 10.1% bullying/Mobbing, 1.9% sexual harassment and 20.3% racial harassment.