Workplace Violence Suffered and Witnessed by Nursing Professionals in the Intensive Care Unit

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines labor violence as any act or incident of a voluntary nature of the aggressor, with the purpose of physically, verbally or sexually harassing a professional during his or her working period. The Adult Intensive Care Unit (AICU) is an environment that exposes the worker to occupational hazards. National and international studies point to violence at work as one more risk factor. This study aimed to identify the occurrence of violence in the work place suffered and witnessed by nurse employees (technicians and nurses), in the AICU. This was an exploratory study with a quantitative approach. Nursing professionals working in the AICU participated in the study. The invitation was sent through social media, participants responded to an online form. The result was the participation of 359 nursing professionals, of whom 62.95% were nurses and 37.05% were nurse technicians. Considering the types of violence, verbal violence was the most prevalent, suffered by 73.25% and witnessed by 69.91% of professionals. Physical violence was experienced by 25.35% of the participants and was witnessed by 45.40%. Sexual harassment was experienced by 13.25% and witnessed by 13.92%. It is concluded that 93.32% of the interviewed nursing professionals suffered and/or witnessed violence in their work environment, which is a staggering result, and this demonstrates the urgency to implement preventive measures to reduce violence to the health employee.