Occupational Violence in Nursing Students in Arak, Iran

Nursing students are often exposed to verbal abuse and/or physical assaults from patients and patients’ families during the course of their training. Although، past studies have explored violence against nurses، a little attention has been paid by researchers to workplace violence against nursing students. The aim of this study is to identify and explore influencing factors on workplace violence in nursing students during their training programs.

In this descriptive study، 271 nursing students completed a reliable and valid questionnaire. Participants were working in teaching hospital affiliated to Arak University.

In total، 74. 9% and 7. 38% of the respondents stated that they had been verbally abused and physically assaulted during their training program in the previous 12-months period، respectively. Most of physical attacks were happened by patients whereas most verbal abuses by patients’ families. There were no statistically significant differences between sex and different years in violence.

Nursing students are often exposed to violence during the course of their training programs. Nursing students require training on how to prevent and respond to workplace violence، and this important topic should be incorporated into the nursing student's curriculum.