Effect on Victims
Victims of workplace violence can experience increased mental health issues, lower rates of physical well-being, low worker performance, decreased job satisfaction, and in extreme cases suicide (Bano & Malik, 2013). Victims of workplace violence have the same outcomes and effects of other types of violence, including anxiety, depression, sleep loss, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Spence Laschinger & Nosko, 2015). Between 10 percent and 52 percent of bullying victims’ time at work was “unproductive,” as they try to defend themselves against the bully, seek support, and mediate the effects on their careers.
Their time at work might also be unproductive because of a loss of focus due to anxiety and depression (Bano & Malik, 2013). Of the 4,821 workplace deaths in 2016, 409 people were fatally injured in work-related attacks, which is 16 percent (National Safety Council, n.d.).
Gates, Gillespie, & Succop (2011) looked at the impact of workplace violence on nurses, who experience high rates of client violence and workplace bullying. The study looked specifically at the impact of patient violence on emergency room nurses. Of their sample, 15 percent had symptoms of PTSD. Those who had experienced a violent event had trouble staying cognitively and emotionally focused, which could affect their work with other patients, which could affect patient outcomes because these are emergency room nurses.
As pointed out by Harris, McDonald, and Sparks (2018), sexual harassment in the military continues to be a persistent problem both because of military culture (including hypermasculinity) and individual circumstances, like power differential between the victim and the offender. Like the military, healthcare professionals also experience high rates of workplace violence. Peers, as well as patients, can be perpetrators of workplace violence in the medical profession (Spiri, Brantley, & McGuire, 2016). Image: Nurse explains a report to a patient. Authored by: Kathryn Weigel. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/armymedicine/5450877803/. License: CC-BY 2.0
In addition to affecting victims directly, workplace violence also affects coworkers. For example, if a supervisor is the perpetrator, the victim’s coworkers may worry that they will be victimized as well. The productivity of victimized workers may decrease as they experience depression or anxiety or miss work to deal with the effects of being victimized. When a victim’s productivity falls, coworkers often must take up the slack caused by the victimization. If the perpetrator is a supervisor, others in the victims’ workgroup might also become afraid of being a victim. If the perpetrator is outside the workplace, such as in criminal intent, coworkers might worry about becoming random victims of violence. When the violence is client-based, especially in health care and corrections, coworkers are not only aware of the victimization but might also be in contact with the perpetrator. This might alter their behaviors toward the client, potentially compromising care.