ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the methodology and results of research into the phenomenon of patient aggression toward medical staff in emergency departments (EDs) in Poland. A triangulation of research methods was used. In the first stage, the survey conducted among 246 medical staff of the ED showed that the problem of aggressive behavior of patients is a real threat in the workplace, occurs frequently and greatly disorganizes the work of the team. Medical workers are exposed to aggressive behavior both verbally, physically, and mentally. Therefore, at a later stage, qualitative research was conducted, including 26 expert individual in-depth interviews – with representatives of different professional groups in the hospital, and 13 exploratory case studies of medical staff who were particularly affected by the effects of aggressive patient behavior. This approach made it possible to understand not only the extent of the phenomenon and its causes but also its different faces from the point of view of different stakeholders. It was essential to analyze the impact of aggressive patient behavior on different stakeholders, including social impact (on staff and their families) and organizational impact – on the hospital (in terms of quality of work, additional costs, staff morale or turnover, etc.).
