Working towards a definition for workplace violence actions in the health sector

Background: Unlike the patient safety research network, no consensus document exists that outlines definitions and concepts that pertain to the workplace violence research environment in the health sector. There are no agreed definitions internationally for terms such as vertical and horizontal violence. This results in a challenging research environment where parallels and commonality are somewhat ambiguous. The objective of this study was to define six central actions of workplace violence for use in health sector research. Methods: This was a two-part study design, Part 1 was a literature search of medical related electronic databases from their beginning until the end of June 2014. Articles of any study type were included if their main purpose was to define the actions of workplace violence. Part 2 was a group discussion held during a workshop at an international conference to discuss and compile definitions for specific workplace violence acts. Results: Part 1, a total of 91,681 articles were identified with 82 articles meeting the inclusion criteria with 50 articles excluded as they did not report on definitions relating to workplace violence. After discussion and debate the outcome of Part 2 concluded in a consensus where six definitions were proposed; Bullying, Verbal Abuse, Threat, Physical Abuse, Sexual Harassment, and Sexual Abuse. Conclusion: This study presents a set of definitions that serves as a starting point for defining workplace violence actions and as a foundation for future refinement and possible additions as the workplace and the way people work evolves over time in the health sector.