Creating a Sustainable Healthcare Workplace: Management Challenges Related to Aggressive Patient Behaviour

Healthcare workers face increasingly dangerous work environments, with patient aggression emerging as a critical threat particularly in emergency departments. This title reveals the alarming frequency of verbal, physical, and mental aggression toward medical staff, often surrounded by a conspiracy of silence despite its significant impact on healthcare delivery. Through research including surveys of 246 medical professionals, 39 interviews, and 13 case studies, the authors expose the prevalence of this phenomenon and its devastating consequences for workers, organizations, and ultimately patient care.Creating a Sustainable Healthcare Workplace: Management Challenges Related to Aggressive Patient Behaviour identifies, classifies, and addresses workplace threats affecting medical staff safety, with special emphasis on psychosocial hazards related to aggressive patient behaviour. The book presents a three-tiered intervention framework operating at systemic, organizational, and individual levels and offers practical recommendations to prevent incidents, support employees during aggressive encounters, and mitigate aftermath effects. This approach will allow the reader to understand and create a sustainable workplace where healthcare professionals can perform their duties without fear, ultimately improving care quality for all patients.This essential resource is written for health and safety professionals, healthcare administrators, hospital managers, medical staff supervisors, human resource professionals, and policymakers responsible for healthcare worker safety. Medical professionals working in high-risk environments, particularly emergency departments, will find valuable insights and practical strategies to address patient aggression.

About the Author

Ewa Beck-Krala is a Professor of Management at AGH University in Krakow, Poland, where she leads the Department of Organization Management and Social Capital. She specializes in Human Resource Management, with research focusing on employee motivation and well-being. She has authored over 100 publications and teaches HR Management, Leadership, and Strategic Management. A Fulbright and Tempus scholar, she has extensive experience in HR Business Partnering and postgraduate education. Her academic and professional expertise spans over 25 years, combining research and teaching with practical insights from business environments.

Elżbieta Tarczoń is affiliated with the 5th Military Hospital in Krakow, Poland, where she specializes in occupational health and safety in healthcare. She holds a PhD in Management and Quality Sciences from AGH University, Poland, and has completed postgraduate studies in occupational health and safety and quality management. Her work focuses on employee safety in healthcare, with published articles on needlestick injuries and preventive measures. She is an active member of the National Association of Occupational Health and Safety Employees and a recipient of the Zlote Szelki award for her contributions to workplace safety.

Małgorzata Sidor-Rządkowska is a Professor at the Faculty of Management at Warsaw University of Technology, Poland. A graduate of the University of Warsaw, Poland, she transitioned from medical ethics to management sciences to improve healthcare systems. She is an expert for the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange and a member of the Employers of Poland forum. She has authored 12 books on organizational development and her work focuses on designing healthcare workplaces, informed by her personal connection to the medical profession as the daughter and mother of doctors.

Jerzy Rosiński is a Professor of Business Management at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, and Director of the Institute of Economics, Finance, and Management. His research explores HRM in ICT organizations, dgtl business models, and teamwork in dgtl environments. With 25 years of consulting experience, he has led projects such as Talent Bank for the National Bank of Poland and EU Horizon 2020’s Una Resin initiative. His work integrates management knowledge with information technology, focusing on competence development and entrepreneurship in the dgtl age.