Inappropriate Patient Behavior: A Survey of Primary Care Providers and Staff at Veterans Health Administration.

Authors

Mark R Relyea, Karissa M Fenwick, Ruth Klap, Alison B Hamilton, Sally G Haskell, Lisa S Meredith, Elizabeth M Yano

Published in

Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Sep 22, 2026. Epub Sep 22, 2026.

Abstract

Inappropriate patient behaviors, such as harassment and violence, are common issues for health care workers. We examined the frequency of inappropriate patient behaviors and their association with negative workforce outcomes among primary care providers and staff at Veterans Health Administration (VA) medical centers.
We analyzed employee survey data from primary care clinics at 12 VA medical centers. We assessed prevalence of provider/staff reports of inappropriate patient behaviors; conducted content analysis of provider/staff responses to an open-ended question asking them to describe the behaviors; and examined whether experiencing inappropriate patient behaviors was associated with job satisfaction, intention to remain at VA, and burnout.
Of 248 providers/staff, more than half (53.7%) reported inappropriate patient behavior in the past year. Women reported inappropriate patient behavior at a higher rate than men (60.2% vs. 41.5%) and described a greater variety of experiences. Both men and women reported experiencing verbal aggression, physical aggression, other unwanted behaviors, and nonspecific inappropriate behaviors (e.g., patients being frustrated). Women reported two additional forms of unwanted experiences: sexual harassment and other unwanted comments. For men, inappropriate patient behavior was not associated with satisfaction, burnout, or intention to remain at the VA. For women, experiencing frequent inappropriate behavior was associated with lower job satisfaction.
VA primary care providers/staff experienced substantial rates of inappropriate patient behavior. Compared with men, women experienced more inappropriate patient behavior, a larger variety of experiences, and more negative outcomes. Future research is needed to identify strategies for addressing inappropriate patient behavior at VA.

PMID:
42951738
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 29 Oct 2026.

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