Occupational violence in patient safety and quality of care: a scoping review protocol

Workplace violence (WPV) is a significant issue that negatively affects job satisfaction, compromising the physical and mental health of healthcare workers, impacting the care provided and the organizational climate, and causing harm related to the safety and quality of patient care. WPV can manifest itself both among healthcare team members and in interactions between workers, patients, visitors, and companions. This study aims to describe the planning of a scoping review that will map the evidence on the consequences of workplace violence against healthcare workers regarding patient safety and quality of care. This is a scoping review protocol that follows the methodological guidelines designated by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and the recommendations for drafting scoping reviews of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocols - extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). It will follow the subsequent steps: definition and alignment of the objective and research question, eligibility criteria, description of the planned approach for the search, selection, extraction, analysis, and presentation of evidence, and the formulation of conclusions and implications of the findings. By systematizing the existing knowledge, this protocol may support scientific advancement at the interface between occupational health and patient safety, reinforcing the need to integrate such dimensions in healthcare practice, management, and research, aiming at the qualification of care and the protection of workers and patients.