Counteracting violence at work in nursing

According to a report by the United States Department of Labor, the speed of great workplace violence incidents averaged over 4 times higher in health care than in private industry in 2002–2013. Even more alarming, the report found that health care causes almost as many violent injuries as all other industries combined.

In the healthcare industry, nurses experience probably the most workplace violence because they supply 24-hour care to patients. Workplace violence may include physical violence (assaulting, spitting or kicking) or psychological violence (including verbal abuse, acts of intimidation and bullying) and affect nurses’ ability to do their job.

Workplace violence can take many forms, starting from egregious acts that appear within the news akin to recent shooting at a medical facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma for every day verbal abuse.

Workplace violence against nurses most frequently involves verbal abuse and threats that go unreported. This form of violence is usually neglected and dismissed as “part of the job,” resulting in the perpetuation of an unsafe and toxic work environment.

Nurses should never put their health and safety in danger. Through informed interventions and strategic communication, healthcare leaders can protect their employees and permit them to give attention to what matters most: serving patients.

What is workplace violence in nursing?

Violence in nursing and health care might be verbal or physical. Most violent incidents within the workplace involve hostile encounters with patients. When patients are afraid or uncertain about their health, they might take out their anxiety on individuals who need to help them.

Verbal threats to doctors are especially common in healthcare settings, but some patients go a step further, physically attacking when a nurse tries to envision their vital signs or a security guard questions a member of the family. Hostile encounters with patients often go unreported because nurses treat them as a standard a part of their job.

While the severity of workplace violence encounters may vary, all of them have serious consequences for nurses and their organizations. Workplace violence is related to psychological distress, low worker engagement, high turnover, reduced quality of care and financial responsibility.

Nurses understand that identifying ways to stop workplace violence in hospitals and other health care settings is a top priority.

How to stop workplace violence in nursing

While there is no such thing as a single solution to stopping workplace violence, nurses and healthcare managers can take several steps to directly address and reduce more common forms:

Develop a zero tolerance policy

Organizations should develop a zero-tolerance policy that clearly outlines a workplace code of conduct, in addition to consequences for individuals who break the code. Creating such a formal document sends the message that lateral violence shouldn’t be tolerated within the organization.

Create open lines of communication

Organizations with open channels of communication enable their employees to acknowledge and report acts of violence before they escalate. By having open lines of communication between co-workers and managers, a corporation can create an environment where employees can freely share their experiences.

Raising awareness

Many healthcare staff approach violence calmly, assuming it takes place throughout the territory. Raising awareness of workplace violence – what it looks like, who it affects and why it’s dangerous – helps increase incident reporting and keep staff secure.

Streamline your reporting process

In many health care settings, there may be either no procedure for reporting workplace violence or it is incredibly complex. Both scenarios discourage victims from speaking out and permit perpetrators to proceed using violence.

We encourage health care administrators to develop an easy reporting process that enables employees to alert leaders when violence occurs. The more information leaders have, the higher equipped they’re to trace, reply to and combat workplace abuse.

Identify patterns

Incidents of workplace violence must be recorded and repeatedly analyzed, enabling health care administrators to discover patterns of abuse – where it occurs most steadily, perpetrators of recidivism, etc. – and adapt their approach as crucial.

Provide education

Preventing workplace harassment starts with educating yourself about workplace violence. Comprehensive training helps nurses and their leaders discover and report acts of violence and develop programs to maintain their teams secure.

Workplace violence in nursing might be each physical and emotional consequences starting from physical injuries, through injuries, and even everlasting disability or death. Education is a key a part of equipping nurses with the knowledge they should protect themselves and their colleagues.