From whom do healthcare workers frequently face verbal abuse, threats, and physical assaults in the workplace?
Answer
Patients or visitors.
Workplace violence is a significant and increasing hazard in healthcare settings, commonly originating from individuals receiving care or those accompanying them. Assaults can manifest as verbal abuse, threats, or physical attacks, often triggered by patient frustration, agitation, underlying mental health crises, or delirium. These incidents are not limited to specific locations within the facility, potentially occurring everywhere from waiting rooms to direct patient care areas, making unpredictable physical aggression a daily concern for frontline staff.

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