Elder abuse is a serious violation of human rights and a worldwide issue. Upon hospital admission, elderly patients become vulnerable and susceptible to abuse. Understanding the issues perceived as abuse by the elderly patients and their family members allows us to identify, manage, and prevent elder abuse; especially in hospital settings. The present study aimed to identify and describe the abuse of hospitalized elders from the perspective of patients and their family members.

The present exploratory qualitative study was conducted from October 2017 to September 2018 at six different teaching hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. The target population was elderly patients in different wards across various hospitals and their family members. Based on the purposive sampling method, 16 hospitalized elderly patients and 11 family members were recruited and interviewed. The data were analyzed using the inductive content analysis method in accordance with the process described by Elo and Kyngas (J Adv Nurs 62:107–15, 2008).

Based on the analysis of the interview data, four main categories were extracted and classified as Micro-level, Meso-level, Exo-level, and Macro-level issues.

Hospitalized elder abuse is a multi-dimensional phenomenon caused by personal and professional factors as well as issues related to the inadequate physical environment and organizational structure. To prevent the occurrence of elderly abuse, it is recommended to train hospital staff, rearrange the physical environment, reform the organizational structure, and better plan and manage the financial, physical, and human resources.