When asked whether they had been harassed by a patient, significantly more nurses — 71 percent — than physicians — 47 percent — said yes, according to a Medscape report.
Medscape gathered responses from 569 nurses, 408 physicians and 68 other healthcare providers on their experiences with harassment in an online poll Dec. 20.
Here are five things to know about the report.
1. The poll defined harassment as patients stalking providers, making persistent attempts at communication or engaging in inappropriate contact with providers on social media. One of the questions addressed physical harassment.
2. More than twice as many women took the poll as men. Ninety percent of nurse respondents were female, as were 66 percent of healthcare providers and 41 percent of physicians.
3. When compared by gender, female nurses and physicians were significantly more likely to say they had been sexually harassed by a patient than their male counterparts. Seventy-three percent of female nurses said they had been sexually harassed by a patient, compared to 46 percent of male nurses. For physicians, 58 percent of female physicians said they had experienced this kind of harassment compared to 39 percent of their male counterparts.
4. Among physicians, 39 percent reported a patient had attempted to communicate with them in an inappropriate manner, either online or using social media, compared to 22 percent of nurses.
5. Nearly all male nurses — 96 percent — and 84 percent of female nurses said they had been physically threatened by a patient. For physicians, the percentages were 61 percent for men and 63 percent for women.