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A Survey of Early Career Counselors' Experiences of Client-Initiated Workplace Violence and Incident Reporting

Kempf, Janet Kathleen
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9828-2303
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1702121431599072

Abstract Details

2023, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, Counselor Education.
Workplace violence (WPV) is a national and global concern. In the United States, individuals who work in the healthcare industries are at a greater risk of experiencing WPV, and the number of injuries associated with WPV is rising. Data indicates that not all incidents of WPV are properly reported. Research suggests that the impact of WPV includes not only physical injury but also physiological and psychological harm. In addition, clinicians who are new to the professions are at greatest risk of experiencing WPV. Although many other human service professions, such as nursing, psychology, and social work, have studied WPV to increase awareness and inform prevention and response strategies, there has been limited understanding of WPV, specifically client-initiated, in the counseling profession. In 2022, Kempf et al. conducted a study and surveyed over 2,600 counselors licensed in 12 states and found that 51.1% of participants indicated that they had experienced client-initiated WPV after reading the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s definition of WPV, and 79.3% of participants indicated that they had experienced client-initiated WPV after they reviewed a list of the different types of WPV. This secondary analysis of the Kempf et al. (2022) data examined the prevalence of WPV among early career counselors using descriptive statistics and a McNemar test and found that 38.7% of participants reported experiencing client-initiated WPV after reading the OSHA definition of WPV. The number increased to 74.3% of participants after they reviewed a list of specific types of client-initiated WPV. This was found to be statistically significant. Chi-square analyses were utilized to determine if 1) there was a relationship between the type of client-initiated WPV and the setting where the client initiated WPV took place and 2) the perceived impact of the WPV on early career counselors. The findings indicated client-initiated WPV occurs in every setting where counselors practice, yet specific types occur more frequently on frequently in behavioral health units in residential/inpatient settings and in community mental health clinics, outpatient behavioral health agencies, or vocational rehabilitation centers. The analyses found one significant result: threats of harm have more of an impact on participants’ physical wellbeing than predicted. Binominal logistic regressions determined outcomes that involving employers were more strongly predicted by physical acts of client-initiated WPV. In addition, outcomes that include receiving support occurred more often when the participants experienced both physical and non-physical acts of client-initiated WPV. After analysis of the data using binomial logistic regressions and crosstabs, demographic variables were not found to be a predictor of whether or how an incident of client-initiated WPV was reported. Implications for early career counselors, educators of counselors, supervisors of counselors, and employers of counselors are provided. And limitations of the study and areas of future research are discussed.
John Laux (Committee Chair)
Christine Fox (Committee Member)
Susan Long (Committee Member)
Jared Rose (Committee Member)
458 p.
Counseling Education
Early career counselors; workplace violence; outcomes; impact; incident reporting

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kempf, J. K. (2023). A Survey of Early Career Counselors' Experiences of Client-Initiated Workplace Violence and Incident Reporting [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1702121431599072

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kempf, Janet. A Survey of Early Career Counselors' Experiences of Client-Initiated Workplace Violence and Incident Reporting. 2023. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1702121431599072.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kempf, Janet. "A Survey of Early Career Counselors' Experiences of Client-Initiated Workplace Violence and Incident Reporting." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1702121431599072

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2023, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.