Legal Responsibility and Regulatory Framework for the Prevention and Management of Violence Against Healthcare Workers

Abstract

Violence against healthcare workers in healthcare facilities is a serious issue that affects both the safety of healthcare personnel and the quality of healthcare services. Such violence may take the form of verbal, psychological, or physical abuse triggered by dissatisfaction with healthcare services, limited facilities, heavy workloads, and ineffective communication. Although the legal protection of healthcare workers has been regulated under various laws and regulations, its implementation in practice remains suboptimal. This study aims to analyse the forms of violence experienced by healthcare workers, the legal responsibilities related to their protection, and the barriers to the implementation of legal protection within healthcare facilities. This study employed a normative-empirical legal research method using statutory, conceptual, and sociological approaches. The research was conducted at Sumbawa Public Health Center, West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, with healthcare workers serving as the research subjects. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and document studies and were analysed qualitatively. The findings indicate that verbal violence and psychological pressure were the most dominant forms of violence experienced by healthcare workers. The implementation of legal protection for healthcare workers has not been optimal due to the absence of specific standard operating procedures (SOPs) for handling violence, weak security systems, low reporting rates, and a culture of informal conflict resolution. Legal protection remains largely normative and tends to be more repressive than preventive. Therefore, stronger and more operational regulations, the establishment of national SOPs, improved security systems in healthcare facilities, and the implementation of a zero-tolerance policy toward violence in healthcare settings are urgently needed.