Prevalence of workplace violence against nurses in Hong Kong

Objectives. To determine the prevalence and nature of workplace violence against nurses, and how nurses deal with such aggression; and to identify the risk factors related to violence in the hospital environment. Design. Cross-sectional questionnaire study. Setting. University teaching hospital, Hong Kong. Participants. All nursing staff in the hospital, except nurses who were unable to read Chinese or who did not have patient contact (eg those worked in administrative positions), were invited to complete a questionnaire. Main outcome measures. Demographic data of the respondents, incidence of and risk factors contributing to workplace violence. Results. A total of 420 nurses returned the completed questionnaire (response rate, 25%). Three hundred and twenty (76%; 95% confidence interval, 72-80%) nurses reported abuse of any kind - verbal abuse, 73%; bullying, 45%; physical abuse, 18%; and sexual harassment, 12%. Most (82%) nurses who experienced verbal abuse tended to confide in friends, family members, or colleagues. Some (42%) ignored the incident. Risk factors for workplace violence included: working in male wards and in certain specialties such as the Accident and Emergency Department, Community Nursing Service, and the Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department. Conclusion. Workplace violence against nurses is a significant problem in Hong Kong. Further large-scale studies should be conducted to more closely examine the problem.published_or_final_versio

Detection of Specific Antibodies to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Protein for Serodiagnosis of SARS Coronavirus Pneumonia

We report the evaluation of recombinant severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (SARS-CoV) nucleocapsid protein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based antibody tests for serodiagnosis of SARS-CoV pneumonia and compare the sensitivities and specificities of this ELISA for detection of immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, IgA, and their combinations with serum samples from 149 healthy blood donors who donated blood 3 years ago as controls and 106 SARS-CoV pneumonia patients in Hong Kong. The specificities of the ELISA for IgG, IgM, and IgA detection were 95.3, 96.6, and 96.6%, respectively, with corresponding sensitivities of 94.3, 59.4, and 60.4%, respectively. The present ELISA appears to be a sensitive test for serodiagnosis of SARS-CoV pneumonia, is much more economical and less labor-intensive than the indirect immunofluorescence assay, and does not require cultivation of SARS-CoV.published_or_final_versio