Clinical trial NCT06921083: Violence in ICU: Outcomes, Lessons, and Experiences of ICU Team (The VIOLENT-Study)
Official title: Investigating Management and Perceptions of Aggression, Conflict, and Threat in ICU Environments
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Conditions: Workplace Stress
Keywords: Intensive Care Unit
Workplace Violence
Lead sponsor: University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2025-04-10
Enrollment: 500
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: OTHER
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Nurses and physicians working in the intensive care unit at Swiss hospitals

Brief summary: This study aims to investigate the perceptions, experiences, and responses of healthcare professionals working in intensive care units in Switzerland concerning patient violence.

Detailed description: Workplace violence, as defined by the International Labor Organization, includes any action, incident, or behavior that assaults, threatens, harms, or injures a person during their work. Healthcare workers face the highest risk of workplace violence among all professions. Violence can take many forms, including verbal abuse, physical offenses to sexual harassment. While most research focuses on psychiatric and emergency departments, workplace violence in intensive care units (ICUs) is understudied and often underreported. As a result, little is known about its prevalence and risk factors, leading to a lack of awareness and effective prevention strategies.

This study examines the perceptions, experiences, and responses of healthcare professionals in Swiss ICUs. A questionnaire-based survey will assess various aspects, including personal background (such as education and professional role), the frequency and nature of past incidents of workplace violence, responses and measures taken, psychological or professional consequences, current prevention strategies, and suggestions for improving workplace safety.

Since workplace violence is a common issue, the results of this study could help improve the work environment and safety in ICUs and other healthcare settings.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Consenting nurses and physicians currently working in Swiss intensive care units
* Nurses and physicians consenting to participate will be included

Exclusion Criteria:

* Nurses and physicians who do not consent

Primary outcomes:
measure: Demographic information (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Completion date (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Professional background (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Frequency of violent incident (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Type of violent incident (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Characteristics of violent incident (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Reporting of violent incident (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Personal impact of workplace violence (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Professional impact of workplace violence (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Actions taken during or after violent incident (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Strategies for enhancing workplace safety in the ICU (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
measure: Open-ended feedback from participant (ICU Staff Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 2025
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Basel
country: Switzerland
facility: University Hospital Basel, Intensive Care Unit
state: Basel-Stadt
Study officials:
affiliation: University Hospital Basel, Department of Acute Medicine, Intensive Care Unit
name: Raoul Sutter, Prof. Dr. med.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: