Medical vandalism: Awareness and opinions; beyond the clinician's window.
Emergency care
stakeholders
sudden death
vandalism
Journal
Journal of family medicine and primary care
ISSN: 2249-4863
Titre abrégé: J Family Med Prim Care
Pays: India
ID NLM: 101610082
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Dec 2019
Dec 2019
Historique:
received:
26
09
2019
revised:
03
10
2019
accepted:
04
10
2019
entrez:
28
12
2019
pubmed:
28
12
2019
medline:
28
12
2019
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Medical vandalism has become a major matter of concern in today's world. The number of violent mob attacks on doctors and other medical personnel is on the rise. This trend is having a negative impact on the proper functioning of healthcare system thus affecting the quality of care and treatment. The aim of this study is to assess the awareness and opinions of the stakeholders in healthcare facilities about vandalism in today's medical practice. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital among 360 participants, comprising of nurses, patient's relatives, security personnel and non-medical staff in the Emergency Care Units and wards. A detailed questionnaire was prepared and used to assess the opinion of the subjects covering various aspects of medical vandalism such as prevalence of vandalism, experiences of vandalism at work, various factors causing medical vandalism, initiatives taken by the respondents to curb vandalism and awareness about various laws implemented by the government that help prevent vandalism. Majority of the participants were of the opinion that medical vandalism was prevalent in India. Overcrowding of patients, inadequate skilled healthcare providers and occurrence of sudden death in casualty are among the major factors that trigger vandalism. This issue has been on the rise in both government and private setups, and nurses seem to be the major victims of such cruelness. 80% of the subjects admitted that verbal abuse was more common than physical abuse. Although violence against all healthcare professionals has been recorded since historical times, the current scenario of the country is disturbing. Immediate measures need to be taken to curb vandalism. Various laws need to be implemented to strictly punish those who create violence. Likewise, institutions must ensure the availability of adequate staff and facilities to reduce events that make the bystanders aggressive.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
OBJECTIVE
Medical vandalism has become a major matter of concern in today's world. The number of violent mob attacks on doctors and other medical personnel is on the rise. This trend is having a negative impact on the proper functioning of healthcare system thus affecting the quality of care and treatment. The aim of this study is to assess the awareness and opinions of the stakeholders in healthcare facilities about vandalism in today's medical practice.
METHODS
METHODS
A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital among 360 participants, comprising of nurses, patient's relatives, security personnel and non-medical staff in the Emergency Care Units and wards. A detailed questionnaire was prepared and used to assess the opinion of the subjects covering various aspects of medical vandalism such as prevalence of vandalism, experiences of vandalism at work, various factors causing medical vandalism, initiatives taken by the respondents to curb vandalism and awareness about various laws implemented by the government that help prevent vandalism.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Majority of the participants were of the opinion that medical vandalism was prevalent in India. Overcrowding of patients, inadequate skilled healthcare providers and occurrence of sudden death in casualty are among the major factors that trigger vandalism. This issue has been on the rise in both government and private setups, and nurses seem to be the major victims of such cruelness. 80% of the subjects admitted that verbal abuse was more common than physical abuse.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
Although violence against all healthcare professionals has been recorded since historical times, the current scenario of the country is disturbing. Immediate measures need to be taken to curb vandalism. Various laws need to be implemented to strictly punish those who create violence. Likewise, institutions must ensure the availability of adequate staff and facilities to reduce events that make the bystanders aggressive.
Identifiants
pubmed: 31879652
doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_830_19
pii: JFMPC-8-4015
pmc: PMC6924216
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
4015-4020Informations de copyright
Copyright: © 2019 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
There are no conflicts of interest.
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