Public knowledge, attitudes, and intention to act violently, with regard to violence directed at health care staff

Background: Violence directed at health care staff is widely prevalent. Few studies have explored public attitudes regarding violence against health care staff. Purposes: To examine the Israeli public's attitudes regarding violence against health care staff and their intention to act violently in various health care settings. Method: A cross-sectional study among 609 adult participants used a self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire dealt with attitudes regarding violence toward health care staff and presented the participants with three scenarios of violence in a health care setting. Logistic regression was conducted to explore variables that may explain the public's intentions to act violently. Findings: The participants expressed condemnation of violence toward health care staff. Men displayed more violent attitudes than women. Participants who justified violence and were supportive of violent behavior displayed significantly more intentions to act violently. Discussion: Actions taken to eliminate violence in the health system must be based on cooperation between health policymakers, health care workers, and the public.