Examination of exposure to violence and burnout of doctors and nurses working in hospital emergency in Elaziğ provincial center

One of the most important problems faced by doctors and nurses working in the emergency room is workplace violence. This study aims to examine the relationship between exposure to violence and burnout by revealing the situations of doctors and nurses working in the emergency services of the hospital in the city center of Elazig, the factors affecting it and the problems it creates. The universe of this descriptive and cross-sectional study consists of 244 people, 105 doctors and 139 nurses, working in the emergency services (adult and pediatric emergency) of five hospitals, one of which is a university, one is a city hospital, and three are private hospitals, located in the city center of Elazig. The entire universe was included in the study without selecting any sample in the study. The sociodemographic characteristics of the participants and their approaches to violence, their exposure to violence and the reasons for this, and the Maslach Burnout Scale were applied by face-to-face interviews with the participants. 52.9% of the 244 people participating in the study were women and 57% were nurses, with a mean age of 30.5±7.9 years. It was observed that 89.8% of the doctors and nurses were concerned about being exposed to violence while performing their profession, 73.0% of them were exposed to violence at least once in their professional life, and 57.3% of the people who were exposed to violence did not report it after the violence. A significant negative correlation was found between age and length of service and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal failure. It was found that the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization scores of the participants who were exposed to violence at least once during their professional life were significantly higher. As a result; It has been observed that most of the doctors and nurses working in the hospital emergency departments in Elazig city center are exposed to violence, exposure to violence affects burnout, and as the length of service increases, exposure to violence and burnout increase. In order to reduce burnout, there is a need for practices to reduce violence in health institutions.