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Table 2
Number and percentage reporting physical assault by a patient over past 12 months, by selected characteristics, nurses providing direct care in hospitals or long-term care facilities, Canada, 2005

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  Estimated number Percent 95% confidence interval
from to
Total 73,300 33.8 32.5 35.1
Personal characteristics
Sex
Female 67,400 33.0* 31.7 34.4
Male 5,900 46.1 40.6 51.6
Years of experience in nursing
Fewer than 5 16,300 41.7* 38.7 44.7
5 to 9 10,500 37.6 33.8 41.5
10 to 14 10,300 36.9 33.3 40.5
15 to 19 10,600 33.8 30.3 37.3
20 to 24 8,700 32.7 29.3 36.2
25 to 29 9,500 27.8* 24.9 30.6
30 or more 7,400 24.9* 21.6 28.1
Bachelor's degree or higher in nursing
Yes 12,400 29.4* 26.4 32.5
No 60,900 34.8 33.4 36.3
General health
Good, very good or excellent 67,600 33.5 32.1 34.8
Fair or poor 5,700 38.2 33.2 43.2
Mental health
Good, very good or excellent 67,600 33.1* 31.8 34.5
Fair or poor 5,700 45.2 39.3 51.2
Job satisfaction
Very satisfied 21,100 27.4 25.4 29.5
Somewhat satisfied 37,900 34.5* 32.6 36.3
Somewhat dissatisfied 10,800 46.5* 42.1 50.9
Very dissatisfied 3,300 53.1* 44.7 61.5
Type of nurse
Registered nurse 49,100 30.2 28.5 31.8
Licensed practical nurse 22,800 44.8* 43.0 46.5
Registered psychiatric nurse 1,400 47.2* 44.2 50.1
Job characteristics
Work setting
Hospital 50,500 29.6* 28.0 31.1
Long-term care facility 22,800 49.6 47.3 51.8
Work status
Full-time 43,400 34.4 32.7 36.2
Part-time 29,600 32.9 30.9 34.9
Shift usually worked
Days 15,900 23.3 21.2 25.4
Evenings 8,100 40.2* 35.8 44.5
Nights 9,200 38.7* 34.5 43.0
Mixed 40,100 38.3* 36.4 40.2
Length of shift
12 hours 28,800 38.5* 36.0 40.9
Under 12 hours 40,000 31.0 29.5 32.6
Workplace climate factors
Staffing/Resource adequacy
First quartile (most adequate) 9,800 23.4 21.0 25.9
Second quartile 14,400 28.7 26.1 31.3
Third quartile 22,500 35.3 32.9 37.8
Fourth quartile (least adequate) 26,100 44.1 41.4 46.7
Nurse-physician working relations
First quartile (most favourable) 14,400 28.2 25.7 30.8
Second quartile 19,300 33.7 31.1 36.3
Third quartile 20,100 34.7 32.4 37.0
Fourth quartile (least favourable) 18,300 38.9 36.1 41.6
Low supervisor support
Yes 23,700 39.8* 37.2 42.5
No 49,200 31.7 30.2 33.1
Low co-worker support
Yes 40,300 39.7* 37.7 41.7
No 32,900 28.7 27.1 30.4
† reference category
* significantly different from estimate for reference category (p < 0.05)
‡ significantly different from estimate for previous quartile (p < 0.05)
Source: 2005 National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses.
Table source: Statistics Canada, 2009, "Factors related to on-the-job abuse of nurses by patients", Health Reports, Vol. 20, No. 2, catalogue number 82-003-X.