Violence against nurses

Recently, increasing attention has been paid to violence within the workplace. This latest attention is amazingly essential because there has previously been relative silence about violence against nurses and other healthcare employees, despite the fact that it happens very usually in our workplaces. I even have personally worked in quite a lot of healthcare settings, including home care. Safety has been a priority in home care because nurses must travel alone, often in unfamiliar areas and situations. But did you understand that almost all workplace violence occurs in hospitals, especially in psychiatric wards and emergency departments? According to a recent study, 80% of emergency department nurses reported experiencing some extent of violence up to now yr, in comparison with 60% in home care. As you read this, it’s possible you’ll think this shouldn’t be possible, but I suggest you answer the query below to see if you might have experienced workplace violence.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workplace violence includes a variety of behaviors from bullying to committing homicide, in addition to actions taken by patients or residents who could also be fully aware of their actions, in addition to actions taken by which can include dementia, delirium, drug or alcohol poisoning or mental disability. Unfortunately, OSHA doesn’t have specific standards that it requires of all employers to forestall workplace violence.² There is a general duty for employers to make sure safety and stop injury and illness within the workplace.²

First, it is vitally essential to know that as a nurse or other worker you might have the proper to be secure at work. Occupational issues of safety have been taken very seriously since 1970, when the U.S. Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which established mandatory standards to forestall employee injuries from every kind of causes, including acts of violence. The OSHA website comprises links to several health and skilled organizations and government agencies that provide guidance on stopping violence within the workplace.

Recommendations include:

• Employers should assess and mitigate risks, provide worker training, implement safety programs and report incidents.³
• Your workplace could also be at high risk if you happen to and your colleagues haven’t received training within the early recognition and management of doubtless violent situations; your facility doesn’t have policies in place to make sure safety, akin to zero tolerance policies regarding violence, firearms, or the carrying of other weapons; or if the organization is commonly understaffed and/or lacks security personnel.
• OSHA relies on nurses and nurse administrators to talk out and report serious workplace safety concerns, and it protects those that report concerns under whistleblower laws.²
• Nursing organizations, including the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the American Nurses Association, have also advocated for the protection of nurses from workplace violence and have published position papers on the problem – Preventing violence within the workplace AND Inappropriateness, abuse and violence within the workplaceappropriately.
• Contact your member organization for help with violence prevention programs in your workplace.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one among the federal government agencies that has resources to assist employers and employees stay secure within the workplace. For example, Preventing workplace violence for nurses is a free course for nurses available on the CDC website. With so many aspects contributing to violence in healthcare settings, there isn’t any single resource or solution that could be used to handle the issue. Therefore, it’s best to stay awake so far with available resources and maybe start by reading a few of the workplace safety articles on Lippincott NursingCenter.com and benefit from Discount on the CE collection during National Nurses Week this week.

Bibliography
1. Phillips, J. Workplace violence against health care employees within the United States. New Engl J Med. 2016; 374(17):1661-1669.
2. Occupational Health and Safety Administration. (n.d.) Workplace violence: enforcement. Retrieved May 3, 2016 from https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/standards.html
3. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). June 26, 2014 Latest NIOSH research on workplace violence and homicide, retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/violence/traumaviol_research.html