Research Article

Patient Violence towards Mental Health Nurses: A Concept Analysis

Table 5

Results of the final analytic phase.

CategoryItemsIndicators

Types of violenceEmotional violenceBullying (e.g., accusing a nurse unfairly, demanding apologies repeatedly, spreading rumours, constantly reminding of patients’ presence, or questioning nurses’ decisions)
Physical violencePhysical assaults
Physical threats
Sexual harassmentSexual abuse (physical or verbal)
Verbal violenceVerbal abuse
Verbal threats

AntecedentsPredictable factorsInternal factors
External factors
Situational factors
Unpredictable factorsOccurred suddenly (unexpected)
Unprovoked

ConsequencesPhysical injuriesDeath
Physical injuries (from mild to severe)
Psychological responseBurnout
Emotional distress
Loss of confidence and self-esteem
Maintaining physical/psychological safe distances from violent patients
Psychological trauma
Sceptical attitude to their jobs
Seeking supportSeeking support from their institution
Seeking emotional support from colleagues

AttributesCommon and frequentCommon phenomenon
Frequently occurred
MultifactorialCaused by predictable (internal/external/situational) or unpredictable factors
Intentional or not
UnreportedDid not consider incidents as important
Fear of blaming
Feeling negative emotions
Vulnerability of nurses to violenceA culture that accepts the violence
Blaming the victims
One-sidedness
Responsibility to their patients and profession
Self-criticism