THE ERGONOMICS OF CONFLICT IN HEALTHCARE: AN HRM FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING AND PREVENTING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AGAINST MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

The increasing incidence of attacks on medical professionals, including doctors, by patients and their relatives has emerged as a serious concern in healthcare workplaces, with consequences for employee safety, psychological well-being, job satisfaction, performance, retention, and organisational effectiveness. Beyond these immediate effects, persistent exposure to violence and fear may erode the intellectual capital of the nation,represented by the specialised knowledge,professional competence, experience, judgement, skills, and human potential embodied in healthcare professionals.Although such incidents are commonly addressed through legal,disciplinary, and security mechanisms, comparatively limited attention has been given to the workplace conditions and human - environment interactions that may contribute to their occurrence and escalation. This study therefore applies an ergonomics perspective within a Human Resource Management (HRM) framework to examine violence against healthcare professionals as a workplace human-factor issue.