About 88 percent of working medical professionals have had a violent interaction with a patient in the last year, according to a recent survey from Medscape of 247 employed medical workers, including physicians, specialists, administrators and nurses.
While the majority of professionals (65 percent) have had between one and 10 violent interactions in the last year, 9 percent have had between 11 and 20, and 2 percent have had between 21 and 50. About 4 percent have had more than 51.
The most commonly reported form of patient violence was verbal abuse, among 24 percent of respondents. Twenty-one percent said they dealt with patients who stormed out, 18 percent said they dealt with erratic patients, and 11 percent said they dealt with violent threats or patients under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
About 7 percent of respondents said they were met with physical violence.
Thirty percent of respondents said they faced violence because a patient was already upset when they came in. Another 24 percent faced violence when a patient disagreed with treatment, and 20 percent faced violence due to denying medication or testing.
The majority of medical professionals (64 percent) said they tried to defuse all of the situations while 26 percent said they tried to defuse some of them. About 41 percent reported calling security during some situations.
Half of the respondents said they have lost trust in patients due to violent interactions. Twenty-two percent of respondents believe their practices have done nothing to address patient violence.
About 25 percent said their practices have added more security personnel, while 4 percent said they require personnel to be in the room during appointments.