Abstract
Healthcare professionals, including the responding security officers, face a global
epidemic of workplace violence (WPV), in hospital emergency departments which
influence trauma, affect job performance, and job satisfaction. This study was designed to
investigate the perspectives of exposure to WPV on security officers in the emergency
department (ED), as it relates to their job performances and leadership support. The
purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe the perspectives of
exposure to WPV through the lived experiences of security officers employed by the
hospital’s ED. As such, the aim of this study was to gather data to inform the
establishment of evidence-based support mechanisms that would sustain security officers
who experience WPV, and to provide recommendations for healthcare leadership. Ten
security officers who experienced WPV in the ED of a Level 1 Trauma Hospital were
interviewed using one-on-one semi-structured interviews. NVIVO qualitative data
analysis and open rich thick descriptive coding was used to determine the following
themes: interpretation of WPV; communication; stressful work environment; leadership
support; training; debriefing; and recovery time. The findings may assist in developing
guidelines for the implementation of support mechanisms to assist security officers, and
other healthcare professionals, as they navigate the impacts of WPV and trauma. Topics
for future research include: personalized impact of WPV on the SO, retention, and the
impact of new WPV legislation.
Keywords: Workplace violence (WPV), Trauma, Healthcare professionals,
Emergency department (ED), Security officer (SO)