Volume 29, Issue 157, March 2025

Strategies to mitigate the risk of violence against emergency department staff: A systematic review of the literature

Osamah BinBakheet¹, Hatim Ali A Alhabi², Fatimah Abdulaziz D Alfaim²

¹Emergency Consultant, Emergency Department, First Health cluster, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
²Saudi Board Emergency Medicine Resident, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Study aim: This study set out to evaluate the impact of intervention programs on the handling of violence against emergency department medical personnel. The study also examined the effects of the therapies on the emergency department staff's goal commitment, attitudes toward and confidence in managing workplace violence, and occupational coping self-efficacy. Method: The PRISMA statement was followed in the conduct of this study. We searched the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases. Search terms were identified through database testing, literature study, and discussions with knowledge users. Only English-language publications released between January 2018 and September 2024 were included in the search. Result and conclusion: This study includes recent studies on lowering workplace violence from patients and visitors toward emergency department staff. The findings are contradictory and don't offer concise, clear advice on effective strategies. The literature has examined a variety of strategies for handling this type of workplace violence with promising results, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach. Because of the complexity of patient care in this setting, interventions that target the emergency department environment, staff, and patients/visitors are necessary.

Keywords: Workplace violence, Emergency medical care, emergency staff, emergency department

Medical Science, 2025, 29, e52ms3541

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v29i157.e52ms3541

Published: 25 March 2025