Background: The nursing staff experiences a high psychological burden in the care setting, as well as a mental or cognitive strain; Psychiatric violence is one of the acknowledged health risk factors associated with psychosocial conditions at work; The Leymann model (Leymann Inventory Psychological Terror, or "LIPT") is the primary model used to evaluate this factor that has been identified by the scientific literature. The goal of this study was to assess the frequency of psychological violence at work and to suggest a preventive strategy tailored to the risks that have been identified.

Materials and Methods: A working population of 1338 caregivers who agreed to engage in a descriptive cross-sectional study served as the basis for this study. In this study, 658 men and 680 women who were employed in a public hospital system in 2010 participated in an interview and answered the Leymann's inventory self-questionnaire.

Results: The LIPT makes it possible to assess the prevalence of exposure to 45 types of bullying during a 12-month period. According to Leymann's definition, the prevalence of violence is 4.5%, of which 57.64% were still experiencing harassment at the time of the survey; in the great majority of these cases, the aggressor is a superior in the hierarchy; also, the aggressor is more frequently a coworker for women than a male.

 Conclusion: The results of our study highlight, through a validated international instrument, that exposure to psychological violence at work risks altering the well-being of our healthcare staff.

Keywords: Psychological Agression, Work, Nursing, Leymann’s Inventory. 

Biographies:

Benaicha Samia is an occupational physician researcher. She began her career as an occupational physician in a University Hospital Center in 2012 after completing her medical studies and undergoing specialized training in occupational medicine. She became interested in psychosocial risks among hospital workers during this period, and her end-of-study thesis focuses on "determining factors of psychosocial risks among caregivers".

In 2015, Dr Samia Benaicha was hired as a medical researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Batna. She participated in several epidemiological studies on the subject, including stress, professional burnout and workplace violence. The findings from their research provided concrete recommendations to improve occupational health among hospital employees. Dr  Samia Benaicha is currently working on her PhD in occupational health and safety on work organization and psychosocial risks in healthcare settings.

 Benhassine Wissal is MD, PhD and Professor in Occupational Medicine; she graduated from universities of Constantine and Batna 2. She is ergonomic graduated from university of Tlemcen, Algeria. She is a teacher-researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of Batna where she contributes to the training of medical students. She trains specialist doctors in Occupational Medicine. She is the head doctor of the occupational medicine department at the university hospital center of Batna Algeria where she set up an occupational pathology unit and installed a occupational mental health consultation. She conducts research in the field of mental health at work, the organization of work in healthcare structures and emergency services, the diagnosis and monitoring of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, mainly back pain. She is an expert doctor for the social insurance funds of three Wilayas. Currently, she is working on a research project on the work organization of Emergency Services and its impact on employee well-being and patient safety.