Citation

Hahn S, Müller M, Needham I, Dassen TWN, Kok G, Halfens RJ. J. Clin. Nurs. 2011; 20(17-18): 2519-2530.

Affiliation

Authors: Sabine Hahn, MNS, CNS, RN, Head of Applied Research and Development in Nursing, Section of Health, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern; Marianne Müller, Professor of Statistics, Institute of Data Analysis and Process Design, School of Engineering, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Zurich; Ian Needham, PhD, RN, NT, Nurse Scientist, Centre of Psychiatry Rheinau, Rheinau, Switzerland; Theo Dassen, PhD, RN, Head of Department of Nursing Science, Centre for the Humanities and Health Sciences, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany; Gerjo Kok, PhD, Professor Applied Psychology, Department of Work and Social Psychology, Maastricht University; Ruud JG Halfens, PhD, FEANS, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Caphri Department of Health Care and Nursing Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands and Department of Nursing Science, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03768.x

PMID

21722224

Abstract

Aims.  To investigate the feasibility of a survey measuring patient and visitor violence after translation and modification, namely the Survey of Violence Experienced by Staff (German version revised) and to validate the shortened Perception of Aggression Scale (POAS-S) and the Perception of Importance of Intervention Skills Scale (POIS) after adaptation for use in a general hospital setting. Background.  The use of different approaches and research instruments for investigating patient and visitor violence negatively influences the comparability of studies. Typically, general hospitals use self-administered surveys. However, support for these instruments' validity is insufficient. Methods.  Between November 2006-January 2007, 291 nurses working in general hospitals in the German-speaking region of Switzerland completed the SOVES-G-R, the POAS-S and the POIS (response rate = 71%). Results.  The participants' responses demonstrated a need for modifications to enhance the feasibility of the SOVES-G-R in two categories, namely experiences with patient and visitor violence in 'the past 12 months' and in 'the past working week'. The POAS-S revealed the same factor solution as in earlier studies, with two factors explaining 38·0% of variance. In the POIS, two factors were distinguished: (1) structured interventions and evaluation and (2) the importance of preventive measures. Conclusions.  The SOVES-G-R, the POAS-S and the POIS are adequate for investigating factors influencing the occurrence of patient and visitor violence in general hospitals. Given the changes in the SOVES-G-R and the moderate size of our sample, further testing with a larger sample is recommended. Relevance to clinical practice.  The instruments help determine which clinical settings have a greater risk of patient and visitor violence and the specific factors that influence this risk. This can facilitate the implementation of situation-specific preventive measures against patient and visitor violence in general hospitals.

Language: en