Violence at work: a major radiographic issue

Abstract Violence to staff working in non-Irish hospitals is well reported for doctors, nurses and ambulance workers. A recent study by the Society of Radiographers demonstrated that radiographers are similarly at risk. In contrast, there appears to be a paucity of Irish data on this issue, therefore the aim of this study was to examine the threat to radiographers in Irish hospitals. Five major hospitals were chosen for the study, three within Dublin and two non-Dublin centres and radiographers of all grades were surveyed to determine the level and type of violence experienced in Accident & Emergency departments. The mean response rate from each hospital was 52%. Sixty-three percent of all respondents were shown to have experienced at least one violent incident within the last 2 years, with psychological violence being the most common type. Violent incidents were most likely to be experienced when the radiographer was working alone ( P =0.001), with recently qualified radiographers most vulnerable ( P =0.0001). Perpetrators of violence were most likely to be male ( P =0.0001) and patients were responsible for 85% of incidents. The data provided by this study demonstrate that violence is an important issue for Irish radiographers and intra-departmental protocols and national strategies should be implemented to minimize risk. The results should have relevance to other hospital personnel and research on this issue amongst all hospital groups is encouraged.