Nurses' experiences of workplace violence in Kashan/Iran: A qualitative content analysis

Background: Nurses are at a high risk of workplace violence (WPV). This phenomenon is largely dependent on the sociocultural conditions. Objectives: This study explained the experiences of nurses about the WPV in medical, surgical, and emergency departments of a general hospital in Kashan, Iran, in 2017. Methods: In a qualitative content analysis, 13 nurses who had the experience of WPV were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were analyzed through conventional qualitative content analysis using the method suggested by Graneheim and Lundman. Results: Four themes were extracted from the interviews. The themes were: "violent behaviors," "antecedents of violence," "violence management," and "violence outcomes". Conclusion: WPV had many forms, antecedents, and consequences. Training the personnel and developing a committee for evaluating the incidents can prevent the occurrence of the violence.