Violent Experiences and Coping among Home Visiting Health Care Workers in Korea

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore violent experiences of home visiting health care workers in Korea. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires from 1,640 health care workers. Data collection was done between September 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. Results: Of the respondents, 70.6% had experienced work-related violence. Shouting (51.9%) was the most common verbal violence, followed by verbalizing sexual remarks to the health care workers (19.0%) and touching the hands (16.5%), the most common acts relating to sexual harassment. Of the respondents who had experienced violence, 50.9% told their peers about the incidents. However, the major reasons why they did not report these incidents was due to the fact that they felt it was useless to file reports and that they expected such incidents to occur as part of their job. The majority of the respondents (86.4%) wanted education on how to deal with such violence at work. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that efforts should be made to increase awareness and to minimize violence in the workplace. Also, educational programs should be designed to improve knowledge and to prevent work-place violence.