“Staff should know implicitly that they don’t have to work in an unsafe environment . . . “

The October issue of AJN has two articles that focus on workplace violence. We’ve shared them through social media—and sadly, the response and comments indicate that this information is sorely needed.

One, described in last week’s blog post by clinical editor Betsy Todd, is an article from a health system reporting on how they developed an innovative program to train their employees to deal with violent situations.

‘Staggering numbers.’

The second article (free until Nov. 8) is from nurse and attorney Edie Brous, our contributing editor and coordinator of our legal column, and covers what staff should expect from management in striving for safe workplaces. The numbers of workplace injuries and violent episodes are staggering—the CDC, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other government agencies dealing with health and safety all show significant increases in the last five to ten years. Brous cites many of these data and notes, “The health care industry experiences almost as many violent injuries as all other industries combined.”

Organizations must be proactive . . . and held accountable.

What responsibility do health care organizations have? Brous writes:

“Organizations must be proactive in protecting their workforce and held accountable for failing to do so. Nurses should not be discouraged from filing police reports or threatened with disciplinary actions if they do. Nor should they be told that filing a police report violates a patient’s privacy rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA does not prohibit the disclosure of protected health information for law enforcement purposes.”

My favorite quote cited by Brous is from an article summarizing three tips for violence prevention in hospitals provided by a Joint Commission executive VP, one of which is adopting a zero tolerance policy for violence: “Do not allow violence in your facility. Period. Staff should know implicitly that they don’t have to work in an unsafe environment, and should feel empowered to report violence to leadership.” (Recent Joint Commission recommendations about preventing and responding to workplace violence can be found here.)