Table 2. Nurses' exposure to and characteristics of verbal abuse and physical violence.

Variable	Verbal Abuse (total 587)		Physical Violence (total 572)
	Values	%	Values	%
Exposure to verbal abuse in past 12 months	Never	38.2	Never	90.4
	1–3 times	37.3	Ever	9.6
	4–9 times	13.5
	10 +	11.1
Timing of the last incident of verbal abuse	Day shift	80.4	Day shift	50
	Night shift	19.6	Night shift	50
Location of the last incident of verbal abuse	Patient room	34.7	Patient room	54.7
	Hallway	22.7	Hallway	17
	Nursing station	11.4	Examination room	7.5
	Waiting room	6.5	Triage room	3.8
	Examination room	6.3	Waiting room	3.8
	Other places	19.3	Other places	13.2
Most common types of verbal abuse *	Loud noises and shouting	73.9	Pushing	50.9
	Angry outbursts	48.7	Grabbing/punching	37.7
	Demanding/threatening/sarcastic/condescending comments	32.9	Kicking	22.6
			Attack with any tool	15.1
			Spitting	11.3
	Swearing and cursing	25.8	Biting	5.7
	Threats	8.5	Attack with weapon	1.9
Top instigators of verbal abuse *	Staff attitude	44.4	Unrealistic expectations by patients	41.5
	Traumatized family members/friends	35.6	Traumatized family members/friends	28.3
	Unrealistic expectations by patients	35.6	Mental health condition	26.4
	Mental health condition	9.3	Alcohol/drug abuse	7.5
	Alcohol/drug abuse	3.4	Staff attitude	5.7
Top perpetrators of verbal abuse *	Patient family/friend	39.4	Patient	53.6
	Patient	25.2	Patient family/friend	33.9
	Medical staff	24.6	Public	8.9
	Nursing staff	18.1	Manager/supervisor	3.6
	Manager/supervisor	11.3	Medical staff	1.8
	Public	2.3	Nursing staff	1.8

*Note that categories in this question are not mutually exclusive