Repository logo
 

Faculty of Health Sciences

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/11

Browse

Author: search.filters.author.Khoza, Tshikani Lewis

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Factors predisposing emergency medical technicians to workplace violence: a cross sectional study
    (SAGE Publications, 2024) Khoza, Tshikani Lewis; Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula; Mshunqane, Nombeko
    Emergency medical technicians (EMT) are at high risk of workplace violence as they often care for patients in uncontrolled and often hostile emergency settings. Gauteng Province, the most populous province in South Africa, caters for 75% of the total population which is dependant on state funded health care. Public sector EMTs' have been robbed with aggravated circumstances, assaulted with intent to do grievous bodily harm, raped and even murdered whilst on duty. Despite this, comprehensive studies investigating the factors that predispose public sector EMTs' to workplace violence in Gauteng Province are lacking. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the factors that predispose public service EMTs' to workplace violence in Gauteng Province. Data were collected using questionnaires. A total of 413 questionnaires were returned by community members of Gauteng who met the inclusion criteria. Descriptive statistics and binomial tests were used to analyze data. The results of this study revealed that workplace violence toward public service EMTs' in Gauteng is attributed to the high rates of crime, the widening gap of inequality, economic deprivation of basic rights to previously disadvantaged communities by government, vulnerability of EMTs' when responding to the ill and injured within low- and middle-income communities and a lack of consequence for disorderly behavior within the communities. An understanding of the community factors that predispose EMTs' to workplace violence may improve the understanding of the phenomenon of workplace violence and developing prevention programs within the communities.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A model for the prevention of work-place violence towards public service emergency care providers in Gauteng province
    (2021-12-01) Khoza, Tshikani Lewis; Sibiya, M. N.; Mshunqane, N.
    Background Workplace violence is an alarming world-wide phenomenon that also affects healthcare providers. However, among healthcare providers, Prehospital Emergency Care Providers (PECPs) are particularly at risk of workplace violence as they provide direct patient care in often hostile and undefined public areas whilst interacting with the patient, their family members and bystanders. Gauteng Province is South Africa’s economic hub and the most populous province. In Gauteng Province, workplace violence towards public service PECPs persists, producing a negative impact on the effectiveness of the public healthcare system, despite the measures that have been put in place. Aim The aim of this study was to develop a model to prevent of workplace violence against public service PECPs in Gauteng Province. Methodology The study was conducted using a non-experimental, cross sectional and mixed methods design guided by a social constructivism/ interpretivism paradigm with an interpretative framework founded on pragmatism. Overall, 413 questionnaires were administered in the quantitative subphase. The qualitative subphase the study included seven (7) face to face semi-structured interviews from the management cohort and focus group discussions comprised of 35 PECPs. Parallel mixed methods analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings The findings of this study revealed that even with the current preventative measures in place, there is a high incidence of workplace violence towards public sector emergency care providers within low and middle income communities of Gauteng who rely on state funded healthcare. The risk factors to workplace violence included service delivery frustrations and protests, high crime rates, a lack of reliable backup and emergency care providers being perceived as easy targets. Workplace violence results in a lack of job satisfaction and a poor perception of workplace safety culture amongst PECPs and a decreased quality of and limited access to emergency medical care amongst the low and middle income communities in Gauteng. The findings and meta-inferences generated by the mixed results informed the development of a proposed model for the prevention of workplace violence towards public service PECPs in Gauteng Province.