Workplace aggression experiences and responses of Victorian nurses, midwives and care personnel
- Authors: Hills, Danny , Lam, Louisa , Hills, Sharon
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Collegian Vol. 25, no. 6 (2018), p. 575-582
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- Description: Background: Workplace aggression is a major work health and safety, and public health concern. To date, there has been limited investigation of population level exposure and responses to workplace aggression from all sources, and little evidence on the experiences, reporting and support-seeking behaviour of nurses, midwives and care personnel in Australian settings. Aim: To determine the 12-month prevalence of aggression experienced by nurses, midwives and care personnel from sources external and internal to the organisation, and the reporting behaviours and support sought from employers, health services, Trade Unions, work health and safety agencies, police and legal services. Methods: An online survey of the membership of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation – Victorian Branch was conducted between 1 st May and 30th June 2017. Findings: In the previous 12 months, 96.5% of respondents experienced workplace aggression, with 90.9% experiencing aggression from external sources and 72.3% from internal sources. A majority indicated they just accepted incidents of aggression, and most rarely or never took time off work, sought medical or psychological treatment, or sought organisational or other institutional support, advice or action. Levels of satisfaction with institutional services were mostly neutral to poor. Discussion: Victorian nurses, midwives and care personnel work in aggressive and violent workplaces. The incivility endemic in health care likely sets the climate for the generation of and exposure to so much explicit aggression and violence. It appears that any systems or processes instituted to protect health care personnel from harm are failing. Conclusion: More targeted and effectively operationalised legislation, incentives and penalties are likely required. Further research may elaborate the extent of the impact of exposure to workplace aggression over time.
General practice nurse-led screening for anxiety in later life in Australian primary care settings
- Authors: Hills, Sharon , Robinson, Tracy , Northam, Holly , Hungerford, Catherine
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australasian Journal on Ageing Vol. 38, no. 4 (Dec 2019), p. E121-E126
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- Description: Objective To test the feasibility of general practice nurse (GPN)-led screening for clinically significant symptoms of anxiety (CSSA) in older people and to estimate the prevalence of CSSA. Methods General practice nurse-led screening for CSSA was undertaken in eight general practices by integrating the five-item Geriatric Anxiety Inventory-Short Form (GAI-SF) into the annual 75 years and older health assessment (75+ HA). Prevalence rates were calculated, and field notes were analysed. Results Over 30 months, 736 patients were screened for CSSA, with a detected prevalence rate of 20.1%. The application of the GAI-SF into the 75+ HA was feasible and readily accepted by patients. Conclusions The five-item GAI-SF is an age-appropriate screening tool for CSSA in general practice settings. Further research is warranted, particularly in relation to the development and implementation of evidence-informed, general practice-based interventions for CSSA that can be effectively delivered to meet the needs of older people.
The way we do things around here. A qualitative study of the workplace aggression experiences of Victorian nurses, midwives and care personnel
- Authors: Hills, Sharon , Crawford, Kimberley , Lam, Louisa , Hills, Danny
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Collegian Vol. 28, no. 1 (2021), p. 18-26
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- Description: Background: Workplace aggression in the health and care sectors is a major work health and safety and public health concern, worldwide. In Australia, rates of exposure to workplace aggression are consistent with those experienced by nurses internationally, and have not decreased over the past 35 years. Objectives: To explore the experiences and perspectives of nurses, midwives and care personnel relating to experiences of verbal or written and physical aggression from external sources (patients, patients’ relatives or carers and others external to the workplace) and internal sources (co-workers). Design: A pragmatic, descriptive, qualitative study, integrating themes emerging from online survey comments and follow-up, in depth interviews. Settings: Health and aged care services in the Australian State of Victoria. Participants: Nurses, midwives and care personnel who were members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation – Victorian Branch in May and June 2017. Method: Thematic analysis was undertaken on the combined comments provided in up to seven free-form text fields of an online survey questionnaire and the content of follow-up interviews of selected survey participants. Results: From the online survey data, comments from 623 participants were able to be included in analyses. Of the 293 respondents initially indicating a willingness to be contacted by researchers, a sample of 29 participated in in-depth interviews. Eight thematic categories emerged from the data, relating to patient aggression, contextual categories (three sub-categories – care of older people, mental health care and emergency department settings), co-worker aggression (two sub-categories – aggression from managers/supervisors, aggression from colleagues/peers), reporting behaviours, trade union involvement, security personnel and police involvement, legal action and the impacts of workplace aggression. Conclusions: Over the past 35 years, little progress has been made in mitigating the likelihood and consequences of this serious work health and safety, and public health issue. There appears to be have been a sustained failure to implement co-ordinated, multi-sectorial, system-wide and targeted interventions to reduce what seem to be growing levels of harmful exposure to incivility and aggression in care settings in Victoria. There is an urgent need to strengthen and enforce existing legislation, introduce new laws and develop more effective systems and practices to adequately protect the health and safety of nurses, midwives and other care personnel in their daily work. Stronger evidence for system and service level interventions to prevent and minimise workplace aggression in care settings is also required. © 2020 Australian College of Nursing Ltd
Practice nurses’ communication with people living with type 2 diabetes : a scoping review
- Authors: Hills, Sharon , Terry, Daniel , Gazula, Swapnali , Browning, Colette
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Patient Education and Counseling Vol. 105, no. 8 (2022), p. 2664-2670
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- Description: Objective: To identify the key characteristics of practice nurses’ communication with people living with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) where lifestyle activities are discussed. Methods: A scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature was conducted. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify key themes that emerged. The PRISMA-ScR checklist was followed. Results: 25 studies were retained in the final review. Nurses who were committed to engaging in lifestyle discussions created supportive environments and built rapport to enable change conversations. However, this was present in just 20% of the studies. In most studies, (60%) nurses continued to use traditional health education communication styles, had little understanding of behaviour change theories, lacked skills in behaviour change counselling and were reluctant to engage in behaviour change discussions with people with T2D. Conclusions: Nurses require a deeper understanding of behavioural change theories and skills in behavioural counselling. Practice implications: Practice nurses have a unique opportunity to facilitate T2D remission by engaging in evidence-based behaviour change communication. A behaviour change training intervention is needed that recognises the environment of practice nurse consultations. It needs to be pragmatic and fully consider the enablers and barriers to addressing behaviour change in both the nurse and the person with T2D. © 2022
Facilitating mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety in older people : history, effectiveness, and future possibilities
- Authors: Hungerford, Catherine , Hills, Sharon , Richards, Catelyn , Robinson, Tracy , Hills, Danny
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Issues in Mental Health Nursing Vol. 43, no. 11 (2022), p. 1014-1021
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- Description: The origins of mindfulness go back some 25 centuries to Eastern teachings, including Buddhism and Hinduism. Mindfulness-based interventions gained credence in Western mental health settings in the late 1970s through the work of medical researcher Kabat-Zinn, whose interest in Eastern meditation led him to develop a program for stress reduction. Since then, mindfulness-based interventions have been utilized for various populations, including older people with anxiety. Group mindfulness-based interventions have demonstrated benefits for older people with anxiety living in residential aged care and the community. In primary care settings, innovative delivery models for group mindfulness-based interventions could be facilitated by nurses to support older people with anxiety to age in place with dignity. The benefits of mindfulness-based interventions suggest the value of integrating ancient Eastern techniques with modern Western strategies to achieve better health outcomes for older people with mental health concerns. © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.