Violence at workplace is not something that everyone experiences. But for doctors, it is a reality in their daily lives now. Many have strong feelings about it, ranging from fear and anxiety to negative feelings about their role in society as doctors.
As part of planning their first reunion, when the 2001 batch of MBBS graduates from Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College began reaching out to each other, somehow, in all conversations, a recurrent topic seemed to be the violence at the workplace.
Also read: Causing harm to health care personnel is violence, says Kerala High Court
“We framed a questionnaire and conducted a survey amongst our batch, who have been practising as doctors for the past 15 years. It turned out that two out of every five of us had experienced some form of aggression or violence at the workplace in the past one year alone,” says P. S. Rakesh, senior Technical Advisor, International Union Against TB and Lung Diseases, Southeast Asia and one in the 2001 batch.
When asked about the kind of violence they had faced, verbal abuse constituted nearly 54%, verbal threats 40%, intimidation constituted 27.8%, 5.7% was physical violence and cyberbullying, close to 5%.
Violence was experienced more by those in the government sector (84%) than those in the private sector (68%). While 82% of those working in Kerala had experienced violence at workplace at some point in their career, about 55% working outside Kerala too had experienced it.
Survey respondents said that unrealistic expectations by patients and their families, patient overload in hospitals, lack of proper security measures and soft handling of aggressors by the police to be the main reasons for the increasing violence.
How did it affect them? About 62% said it brought them emotional distress, 54% reported feeling sad and 43% felt anxious about their workplaces, while 31% felt that they should “play safe” in future and stop offering high-risk procedures to patients. About 25% said they had developed a negative attitude towards work and 11% said they actually repented having chosen this profession.
On being asked if they wished their children to pursue a career in medicine, 48% said an outright “No”, while 41% were non-committal. Only 8% said that they wished their child to pursue medicine. Ninety per cent of those who said “No”, said the current spate of violence may have affected their decision.
Despite all odds it was their love for saving lives that compelled many to go forward, most doctors said.
Published - June 30, 2023 09:32 pm IST
