Work place violence against health care workers is a common and widespread
phenomenon. There is an increased evidence that nursing staff is at such a high risk of
exposure to violent behaviors in their work place. Objective: To assess, compare work place
violence toward nurses working in family health care centers in Alexandria and El Behera
Governorate and identify its related risk factors. Settings: The study was carried out four
health centers in Alexandria and eight health centers in El Behera governorate giving a total
number of 12 family health care centers. Subjects: 80 nurses from Alexandria governorate
and 120 from El Behera governorate giving a total number of 200 nurses. Tool: One tool was
used for data collection namely work place violence questionnaire which includes nurses'
demographic data, characteristics of workplace violence events, and risk factors contributing
to workplace violence. Results: Findings of the present study revealed that 78.8% of nurses in
Alexandria compared to 73.3% of nurses in El Behera reported exposure to violence in the
last year. Conclusion: The study concluded that a significant proportion of nurses faced
violence while providing care in urban and rural primary health facilities. Being a staff
nurse, of younger age, and short work experience were significantly associated with
workplace violence. Recommendations: Workplace violence prevention strategies are needed
to make health care settings a safe environment.