ArticleCureus2025
Sexual Harassment and Verbal Violence Among Medical and Nursing Professionals: A Two-Center Cross-Sectional Study in Greece.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A situation ignored in the healthcare: a systematic review of sexual harassment against healthcare professionals.Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S P · 2026Pooled it
- Workplace violence against hospital personnel in Tunisia: prevalence, associated psychological and behavioral outcomes, and legal actions.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVerbal abuse is recognized as the most prevalent form of workplace violence in healthcare settings. In recent years, however, increasing attention has been paid to the issue of sexual harassment, particularly among nursing professionals.
objectiveThis study aimed to examine the prevalence of verbal abuse and sexual harassment among physicians and nurses employed in public hospitals in the Attica region of Greece.
methodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to July 2023 involving 61 physicians and 279 nurses across two public hospitals. The Verbal Abuse Scale (VAS) was employed to measure verbal abuse, while the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) assessed experiences of sexual harassment.
resultsA total of 88.8% of participants reported experiencing verbal abuse at least once in the past year. No statistically significant difference in verbal abuse prevalence was observed between physicians and nurses. However, nurses reported significantly more frequent experiences of trivialization (p=0.011). Nurses were also more likely to endorse emotional reactions such as "I don't deserve to be treated this way" (p<0.001), "He/she has no right to treat me this way" (p=0.004), "This could potentially hurt me" (p=0.034), and "Why do I let him/her upset me enough to cry?" (p=0.004). Moreover, nurses were more likely to confront the perpetrator directly (p<0.001). Regarding sexual harassment, 70.3% of respondents indicated they had experienced such incidents at least once during their careers. Sexual harassment was significantly more prevalent among women (OR=3.356; p=0.003) and among those working in emergency departments or outpatient clinics (OR=2.696; p=0.015).
conclusionsA considerable proportion of both medical and nursing staff are subjected to verbal abuse and sexual harassment in their workplace. These findings underscore the urgent need for robust policies and interventions by healthcare administrators and policymakers to support victims and address workplace violence without fear of retaliation.
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