Growing violence against medical professionals: A qualitative analysis of a worrying epidemic
Authors:   Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, Manipal, India, Saxena Shubhi , Cherian Serah Elizabeth ,   Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, Manipal, India, Sebastian Savio ,   Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, Manipal, India, Yadav Isha ,   Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, Manipal, India, Kumar Avinash ,   Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, Manipal, India, Rashmi K.S. ,   Department of Physiology, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, Manipal, India
Published: November 2024

Introduction. Increasing numbers of violent incidents against doctors have made headlines on a regular basis during the last few decades. Research suggests that doctors are disproportionately vulnerable to verbal abuse, threats, physical violence, and cyberbullying at work. As per the Indian Medical Association, verbal or physical abuse is experienced by 75% of doctors, and 43% of them consider it to be a significant cause of concern. Poor communication, overworked and understaffed medical staff, a lack of emergency care and management training, and inefficient grievance redressal procedures are probably contributing reasons. India responded by passing the Health Services Personnel and Clinical Establishments Bill, which is a noteworthy first step in resolving this matter. We must investigate different ways to promote peace, apply systemic adjustments in the provision of healthcare, and avert such unfavorable events in order to guarantee ongoing, excellent services for those who require them. The study set out to determine the likely reasons behind the rise in violence against physicians and to look into ways to make the situation better. Setting and design. Kasturba Medical College in Mangalore served as the study's location. A descriptive qualitative study with two steps is this one. Sorting of piles and free listing. Materials and methodology. Purposive sampling was employed in this investigation. Two interns and two tutors who were employed by Kasturba Medical College in Mangalore's community medicine department participated in one-on-one interviews for the study. The statistical analysis was conducted using Visual Anthropac 4.98.1 software. Results. A total of 28 causes and 19 solutions were found after free listing. A limit of 0.15 for Smith's salience score was set, and after that, 14 causes and 12 solutions were classified into groups of 3-6 and 3-5, respectively. A stronger triage system for emergency situations was the remedy with the highest salience value of 0.25, while undervaluing autonomy was the cause with the highest score of 0.25. Conclusions. In conclusion, one of the main issues we are currently facing is violence against doctors. Favoritism and discrimination among patients were identified as some of the main causes of violence against doctors by using the free listing and pile sorting method, which does not prioritize autonomy. Stricter laws against violence against doctors and an improved triage system for emergency cases were suggested as effective solutions for the aforementioned issue.