Client and Counselor Safety for Mental Health Counselors Essays

As health care workers we are under a legal obligation to protect an individual from any kind of abuse, whether it is physical, financial, emotional, sexual or psychological .Legislation, policies and procedures exist to promote a safer working environment and reduce the potential for risks occurring. They are tailored for the needs of each setting, known and understood by employers and employees and reviewed on a regular basis.

There are several ethical dilemmas that the mental health professionals that are working as a team will face including “ensuring that the client has given informed consent, maintaining client confidentiality, and involving professionals, paraprofessionals, and family in appropriate coordinated processes that benefit the client” (Paproski & Haverkamp, 2000, p.96).

To be a mental health counselor a high level of education is needed. Therefore a typical entry level of education is a master’s degree (BLS.gov). Most mental health therapist go to school for 4 years and get a master’s degree. Getting a master degree is what is required, but getting a higher degree would help with your career a lot. Going to school and getting a higher degree of level of education will help you’re salary increase (Careerinpsychology.org). Getting a bachelor of a PhD is going to increase pay and going to help you with more business, if in private practice. While getting an education a license is needed to work as a mental health counselor (Mentalhealthcounselor.org). Getting a license is required. Having a license will help

This is relevant for me as it is for everyone in the healthcare industry. We all want to work in an environment that is free from violence especially in an environment that is already full of stress. It is good to know that there are governmental sanctions for those that violate harassment or violence regulations in the workplace. We still need management to be accountable with those under their direction, disciplining and counseling problem employees as necessary. Because of this threat that constantly hangs over our heads we as nurses should develop a process or plan

According to the American Nurses Association (ANA) (2013), violence impact healthcare worker physically, emotionally, and mentally. In addition, the financial and insurance claims will affect the organization legal expenses and staff replacement. Prevention is an essential element to create a safe environment for the workers and the patients. Conducting an annual training for violence prevention, and instructing employees the proper techniques to deescalate or minimize unexpected behavior (Dahlby, 2014).

Violence in all its forms has increased dramatically worldwide in recent decades (Balamurugan, Jose & Nandakumar, 2012). According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) report, nearly two million American workers report having been victims of workplace violence each year (2011). Among those at highest risks for violence in the healthcare setting are nurses, social workers and psychiatric evaluators (OSHA, 2011). In the healthcare setting, physical assault is almost exclusively committed by patients (Balamurugan et al., 2012). Moreover, nurses have the highest rate of violent attacks out of all healthcare workers (Howerton Child & Mentes, 2010); the main reason being that nurses are alongside the patients 24-hours a day, are usually the most available caretakers and are the frontline staff members dealing with patients and their relatives whereas psychiatrists, social workers and other healthcare providers only visit from time to time (Yarovitsky & Tabak, 2009; Rowe, 2012; ALBashtaway, 2013).

Institutions must be aware of the problem and take steps to reduce the risk to their staff and patients. There are laws in place that make assaults on health care workers a felony, this may deter some individuals from causing harm, however some other steps can also occur. To reduce the incidence of violence in a health care setting, policies regarding violence should be implemented. Adopting a written violence prevention program, advising all patients and visitors that violence, verbal and nonverbal threats will not be tolerated, as well as controlling access to facilities other than waiting rooms is a start to decrease violence to the health care worker. Educating staff about the ease of information gathering from sites like facebook, linkedin

Workplace violence (WPV) has the potential to affect every job in the United States. The growing problem deserves attention and needs to be mended. Compared to other businesses, those who work in healthcare are five times more likely to become victims of WPV (Arnetz et al., 2015). While it is true that every healthcare worker has the potential for being a victim, the nursing profession is the most frequently targeted hospital personnel of verbal and physical violence (Kynoch, Wu, & Chang, 2011). Close and consistent proximately to patients puts nurses in the direct path of potentially violent situations. The emergency department (ED) is a specifically vulnerable area where nurses are targeted. Patients and visitors are both culprits of aggression

Workplace violence, is an issue often encountered but rarely discussed or focused on. Workplace violence includes physical assault, verbal or written threats, harassment and homicide (“Workplace Violence, “2017). Per ANA website, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) does not require organizations to have prevention programs in regards to workplace violence. From experience, we know how fast situations can escalate and it is important that we have a governing body that protects us. Nurses are more likely not to report due to fear of unemployment or that nothing will happen after reporting (Kvas & Seljak, 2014). A bill passed in December 2015, gave protection for healthcare personnel injured while providing care and their assailants could be charged with a felony offense. (“Association of perioperative…,” 2015). Federally, there is not much direction or leadership in regards to workplace violence outside of hospitals. There are several organizations involving nurses in leadership, emergency medicine and perioperative nursing but not many organizations associated with community health nursing. It is important to look on state and local levels to see where we can assist in ensuring nurses in organizations other than hospitals feel safe while working. I believe it is important to work together to achieve a common goal geared towards the improvement of the nursing profession.

Workplace violence has been a serious problem in the past years around all location and sitting. It is any act physical or emotional of violence or disruptive behaviors that occur at the work site. It can vary from a simple verbal abuse to the physical act. Careless behaviors that surround the healthcare workers affect the security and comfort of both caregiver and patient. Increasing security and comfort at the workplace in the healthcare sitting is critical for patient centered care.

Every type of workplace has the potential for workplace violence to take place. However, health care professionals have a much higher rate of experiencing workplace violence than other professions. This is largely due to the type of patients that health care professionals see. Patients that are more likely to become aggressive and violent are patients with a mental illness, patients presenting to the emergency department, and other patients in acute care settings. Patients are not the only people with the potential to become violent. Patient’s families, visitors, coworkers, and other 3rd parties can all be sources of violence. It is important to be able to recognize situations that may become violent and

Mental health counseling is a career that requires the ability to be objective and listen to a client’s concerns.

People go into the healthcare profession with the idea that they are going to help people during their hardest times, but those same people often never imagine the dangers they could face as they simply do their job. The number of healthcare workers assaulted by patients has been increasing at an alarming rate. According to Lanctôt and Guay, healthcare professionals have more than 16 times the risk of being assaulted (physically, verbally, or sexually) than any other service worker. The International Labour Organization defines workplace violence as “Any action, incident or behavior that departures from reasonable conduct in which a person is assaulted, threatened, harmed, injured in the course of, or as a direct result of, his or her

Violence from patients is a serious occupational risk for the local and global workforce, accounting for approximately 900 deaths and 1.7 million nonfatal assaults each year in the United States. In 2007, 15% of all work-related fatalities in the United States were due to assaults and violent acts from patients. In healthcare most incidents related to patient violence against healthcare workers are underreported for a number of reasons. Some reasons are: facility not having a policy that protect the worker, perception that this abuse and its part of the job, or it will not benefit the employer if they report it, and may feel its poor performance on their part as healthcare workers (Gacki-Smith, et al., 2009). . It is estimated that 14% of the total general nursing population have experience symptoms of PTSD which is four times

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has defined workplace violence as “violence or the threat of violence against workers. It can occur at or outside the workplace and can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide.” (5) The US Bureau of Justice defines workplace violence as “nonfatal violence (rape/sexual assualt, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault) against employed persons age 16 or older that occurred while they were at work or on duty.”(1) Previous research on the topic of workplace violence in healthcare often lacks the ability to be directly compared due to a lack of definition consensus. In 2000, Rippon defined aggression as “behavior with intent that is directed at doing harm to a living being whether harm results or not, or with