Objective

To determine risk factors associated to intra-hospital horizontal violence against nursing personnel.

Methodology

This is a systematic review about epidemiological studies analyzing horizontal violence against nurses and its associated factors. Pubmed, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Ebsco-Host, CINHAL, ISI Web of Science and Biblioteca Virtual en Salud databases were consulted. A critical lecture strategy (STROBE) was followed. AHQR-based Level of Evidence and Recommendation Degree were assigned.

Results

From 629 registers, 7 articles were included in the systematic review. All received a Level of Evidence III and a Degree of Recommendation B. The prevalence of horizontal violence was found to be in the range of 21.1% to 79.4%. Associated risk factors were: place of work, job satisfaction, relationship with colleagues, intention to leave, and work harassment related policies.

Conclusions

There is scant and limited in quality evidence on the topic. It becomes necessary to acknowledge the prevalence of intra-hospital horizontal violence against nurses and its associated factors in order to design prevention strategies which can strengthen the labor culture.