According to the research report published on the occasion of "April 28, Day of No Violence against Healthcare Professionals", it was revealed that 10 in 1 medical school students were exposed to violence before starting their professional career.
In the research, it was stated that 76 percent of the students who were victims of violence were faced with "shouting" and 63 percent were faced with "psychological humiliation"; It is seen that 22 percent of the acts of violence consist of physical attacks such as "punching, kicking, slapping, twisting hands and arms, head-butting, strangling, attacking with an object". 2 percent of healthcare violence against medical school students was sexual violence.
Leyla Şeker, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lokman Hekim Health Foundation, underlined that the results of the research for medical school students are quite worrying. Şeker said that exposure of these students to violence in healthcare before they start their careers could seriously damage their professional motivation, commitment to the profession and ideals, and emphasized that negative experiences experienced in the early period would negatively affect their attitudes towards their future healthcare careers. Leyla Şeker also stated that the trauma of violence may damage their professional satisfaction and communication with patients, and this will negatively affect the quality and number of service and manpower in the health sector in the long term.
Meanwhile, according to the research report conducted by the foundation throughout Turkey, it was determined that 84 percent of the participants first thought of "violence against healthcare workers" when they mentioned violence in healthcare. The report points out that 10 out of 7 healthcare professionals participating in the research have been exposed to violence in healthcare in their professional lives and said, "Shouting ranks first as psychological violence among the types of violence experienced, with 80 percent." The second most frequently exposed type of violence is threat with 72 percent, followed by humiliation with 59 percent. Additionally, according to the study, 4 in every 1 healthcare workers is exposed to physical violence. While 35 percent of the participants state that they have been exposed to some form of physical violence, 10 percent state that they have been attacked with a cutting tool or firearm, and 3 percent state that they have been exposed to sexual violence. "According to the research, 55 percent of violence in healthcare is committed by patients' relatives."
Meanwhile, according to the research, 10 out of 6 healthcare workers who were exposed to violence stated that "there was no development after the violent incident and the attacker could not be caught."
While one in every two healthcare workers who were attacked said they did not file a complaint, only 2 percent stated that the attacker was caught and the punishment was satisfactory.
The healthcare worker who gave the White Code was only included in the data as 1 percent.
All participants in the study were also asked whether they had knowledge about legal regulations regarding violence in healthcare. 46 percent of the participants said they were not informed, and 42 percent said they had heard but did not know the details. It revealed that this rate was also low in terms of awareness.
