الفهرس 
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Abstract
In the nursing profession, SH occurs across the globe. Nurses are among the occupation groups most likely to experience SH at work, although prevalence rates differ considerably by country, workplace setting, and research methodology. Objectives of the study The objectives of the study are to assess the magnitude of SH among nurses in Sohag University Hospital, to assess nurses’ perception about the concept and forms of SH, To identify nurses’ opinions about factors that lead to SH and how to eliminate it, to describe the types of SH, the perpetrators and the response of nurses to incidents of SH and to identify the effects of workplace SH on nurses. This will raise the awareness about SH and its forms in hospitals, provide evidence to adopt sound policies and to design effective programs for prevention and control of SH at the workplace and thus promote a safe working environment for nurses. Methodology The current study was a descriptive cross-sectional study and was conducted in Sohag University Hospital. The study population was female nurses working at Sohag University Hospital with at least six months experience in the selected setting. A systematic random sample was used. The sampling frame included 641 nurses and the sample size was 320 nurses. from 320 nurses, 296 responded and shared in the study with a response rate of 92.5%. A semi- structured self -administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data collection was completed in four months. Socio-demographic and occupational characteristics of the nursesThe average age of the respondents was 29±5.3 years. The majority of respondent nurses were married (72.6%). The majority of them (96.3%) were practicing nurses while the supervisor nurses were only 11 nurses (3.7%). The average years of work experience were 9.4±5.57 years. More than half (58.4%) of them were working in open units, in day & night shifts (54.4%). Less than half (41.2%) worked for at least 9 hours daily. None of respondents had received any educational sessions on how to deal with and prevent SH. Knowledge and attitude of nurses towards some issues related to sexual harassment More than half the respondents were aware of the presence of an Egyptian law against SH. however, about one third of them has only been aware of the penalty. About 90% percent of the nurses denied the presence of any policy bout SH in the hospital. About three quarters of the respondents agreed that females suffer from workplace SH and above fifty percent agreed that the female nurses are at the highest risk. Nearly all respondents agreed that workplace SH is a serious phenomenon. About two thirds of nurses agreed that there is no interest in this subject by the officials. About three quarters of them agreed that SH prevention educational courses are important for both women and men and have a role in raising the awareness and facing the problem of SH. The majority of nurses agreed that no reporting after SH exposure occurs due to lack of support from managers and fear to be blamed. Perception of sexual harassment by the respondent nurses and suggested methods of elimination There was insufficient awareness of the SH behaviours by the nurses as only two fifths (42%) were aware of all the SH behaviours. Physical harassment was the main form of SH that is perceived by the nurses. The majority stated that watching porn movies through media and social communication sites (92.6%), lack of religious education and moral awareness and ethics (87.8%) and reasons related to lack of policies to prevent SH within the hospitals (83.8%) are the main three reasons of SH of female nurses in hospitals respectively. Giving interest to religious education and moral awareness, control on media and social networking and prevention of any porn channels, criminalizing SH by law were the commonest suggested methods of elimination. Workplace SH experiences of the respondent nurses and details of the last SH incidentsMore than half of the respondents (about 58%) were exposed to at least one form of SH in the last 6 months in their workplace. More than half of them were exposed to verbal SH (53.5%), followed by non-verbal SH (28.5%). Physical SH was reported by 18% only of the exposed respondents. The most frequent perpetrators were patient’s relatives and friends (35.5%), followed by hospital staff other than physicians (25%), physicians (22.7%) and the least were patients (16.9%).About three quarters of the exposed nurses were harassed during the day. The most frequently reported places of harassment were ”Corridor” (29.7%) followed by” Patients’ examination room” (20.3%).The passive reactions were the commonest during and after the harassment incidents. Disappointingly, only 9.3% of the exposed nurses reported to the supervisors, managers, or authorities. After reporting, the majority of the harassers (93.8%) stopped harassing the victim even though there were no actions in the majority of cases (81.3%).More than two-thirds (69.8%) of the exposed nurses reported that they were affected by the incident. The commonest three effects were low job satisfaction, frustration, and loss of desire to work, reported by 64.2%, 50.8% and 30.8% respectively. Bivariate analysis, performed to identify the factors associated with exposure to SH, showed that the nurse’s age, marital status, years of experience, place of work whether closed or open units, average hours of daily work, period of work, awareness that females suffer from this problem, awareness that nurses are the most risky and there is no sufficient interest from officials and policy-makers were significant factors associated with exposure to SH. Logistic regression showed that marital status, place of work whether open or closed units and years of work experience are significant predictors for exposure to SH towards nurses is common and the verbal harassment is the commonest form. Awareness concerning SH concept and forms is deficient and thus SH may be underestimated. The commonest perpetrators are patients’ relatives and friends and hospital staff other than physicians. Nurses with fewer years of experience, single nurses and those who work in open units experience SH more than others. Most of the exposed nurses are affected by the SH incident. Reporting about the incidents is an important step for SH prevention Continuous educational programs and training sessions about SH in the workplace, effective policies and procedures, effective reporting systems and further researches in Egypt and the Arab countries about workplace SH towards nurses are highly recommended.