Occupational violence is a widespread issue in health care facilities. Physical aggression, threats of physical assault, threats, verbal abuse, harassment, and antagonism are all examples. Nurses frequently suffer violence in the course of their duties in healthcare settings such as nursing homes and hospitals. Patients, intruders, coworkers, and guests are all potential sources of violence. Unfortunately, even in health institutions that have standardized their event reporting processes, the majority of incidences of abuse go unreported (Kvas, 2014).
Factors such as politics, the law, and legislation all play a role in workplace violence.
Workplace violence in health care facilities can be caused by a variety of circumstances. First, administrative policies could be an influence. The view by some nurses and other hospital staff that it is normal may increase the number of such cases. In the case of mental health facilities, they may assume that it is okay to experience violence from psychiatric patients and therefore encourage institutional tolerance for violence. The lack of proper administrative policies can also undermine efforts to reduce violence in the hospitals. The administration should not be tolerant of staff behaviors that undermine violence reduction strategies and institute processes that address the issue.
Staff factors also contribute to workplace violence in a variety of ways. Their communication styles and attitudes may make them be a target of violence. For instance, mental health nurses should use appropriate interactive communication skills in their dealing with psychiatric patients to minimize cases of violence. Skilled nurses can have interventions that are more successful if they apply the appropriate assessment, communication, and therapy procedures.
Lack of proper legislation may be a contributing factor to high rates of violence. States that have not enacted legislations that have punitive measures towards violent crimes experience higher rates. Some states have legislations in place that protect nurses from acts of aggression and violence (Leigh, 2010). They have protected job classifications. For instance, some states have enacted legislations that make assaulting a nurse a felony.
OSHA regulations and ANA position statement comparisons
ANA has a code of ethics for nurses that require them to enhance the creation of an environment that promotes an ethical culture of civility and kindness. It also advocates for treating employees, coworkers, colleagues, students, and others with dignity and respect. Nurses should also be treated with respect. The nursing profession must not be tolerant of any violence from whichever source (Leigh, 2010). The position statement is also applicable to the academia, research institutions, and other relevant bodies that promote a healthy and safe inter-professional work environment. The OSHA regulations on workplace violence stipulate that employers should provide their employees with a workplace environment that do not have recognizable hazards that may cause serious physical harm or death to employees (Halpern, 2017). Therefore, the employer has a legal obligation to ensure that the work environment is free from hazardous activities and conditions (Halpern, 2017).
Safety Policies and Protocols
Since healthcare employees face many risks of work-related violence, it is essential to implement strategies that ensure their safety. Stakeholders may provide feedback in line with industry’s best practices and make recommendations for the development of policies that to eliminate or reduce job-related violence in healthcare settings.
First, management commitment and employee participation are necessary. Both the leadership of the institution and employees to be involved in the workplace violence mitigation programs for successful delivery (Osha.gov, 2016).Having regular meetings to devise strategies and procedures is one way of ensuring that there is full involvement. Workers and management can suggest best ways of managing violence in their workplace environment and provide regular feedback.
Worksite analysis and hazard prevention also ensure that there is an assessment of all hazards that may exist and have the potential to cause violence. It is important for employers and workers to co-operate in identifying the risks (Bowen, 2011). The responsibility of the management is to control hazards while the workers play the role of assessing hazards because they participate in the daily work activities and therefore they have familiarity with the job environment (Osha.gov, 2016). Record analysis and tracking entail the review of documents to assist in the identification of patterns of violence.
Hazard prevention and control is the next step that follows the completion of worksite analysis. The employer will prevent hazards by identifying and evaluating control options for hazards. They then select feasible controls that are effective at reducing hazards (Osha.gov, 2016). Next is the implementation stage followed by a confirmation of the proper maintenance of controls. The evaluation of the efficiency of the controls then follows.
It is also crucial to provide health and safety training in the workplace. It should encompass both patient and workers’ safety. It raises the overall awareness of health knowledge among the workforce and equips employees with the tools that they need to identify hazards and therefore assist in addressing potential safety issues that may arise (Bowen, 2011). The training topics should be comprehensive.
Record keeping and program evaluation are essential in the determination of the efficiency of violence mitigation strategies and the identification of any changes to make. Keeping accurate records can assist to determine the extent of the problem and therefore assist in identifying training needs and solutions (Osha.gov, 2016). Examples of reports are medical records, abuse incidences, training programs, and documentation of minutes of meetings.
Conclusion
Workplace violence can limit productivity in the health care environment. There should be concerted efforts by both the management and workers to develop effective strategies to eliminate or reduce its negative effects. The type of approaches will depend on the extent of the job-related violence. Constant feedback is crucial to enhance better strategies in organizations.
References
Bowen, B. (2011). Reducing workplace violence by creating healthy workplace environments.
Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 3(4), 185-198.
Halpern, L.W. (2017). OSHA Considers National Standard to Prevent Health Care Workplace
Violence. American Journal of Nursing, 117(4), 15.
Kvas, A. (2014). Unreported workplace violence in nursing. International Nursing Review,
61(3), 344-351.
Leigh, T.J. (2010). Workplace Violence. American Journal of Nursing, 110(3), 11.
doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000368933.60442.41
Osha.gov. (2016). Guidelines for preventing workplace violence for Healthcare and Social
Service Workers. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3148.pdf
