Personal Narrative: Preventing Workplace Violence

Safety is an important factor and is a high priority in healthcare. Kelly, Fenwick, Brekke, and Novaco (2015) shared that workplace violence impairs the staff perceptions of safety. However, both patients and staff are affected by workplace violence in many ways, from physical to emotional aspects. There are many reasons why violence occurs, that will be explained later in this paper. The purpose of this paper is to explain the reason and importance of the chosen phenomenon of interest. Moreover, primary and opposing philosophic viewpoints will be discussed, as well as ways of recognizing and utilizing them in nursing. The ways of knowing patterns in nursing and the utilization of these patterns will be explained, pertaining to nursing care.

What is instead increasing at an alarming rate in hospitals is violence perpetrated by patients themselves – typically, mental health patients or the elderly.

Workplace violence includes any incident in which an employee is threatened, intimated, verbally or physically attacked, harassed, injured or killed. Workplace, or occupational violence, as it is sometimes referred to, has and can occur in almost all types of settings, from large to small, private to public and rural to urban. Therefore, there is a demonstrated need for firms of all types, sizes and in all locations to become aware of the seriousness of

Which of the following statements BEST defines how current legislative approaches define workplace violence and aggression?

Horizontal violence is a hidden pattern of individual behavior in controlling other individual that risk health and safety (Hinchberger, 2009). According to Roche, Duffield and Catling-Paull, violence can be describe as emotional abuse, threat, or actual violence in any health care setting. Although the definition varies according to situations and practice settings, there is agreement that workplace violence has a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of nurses and the delivery of quality nursing care (Hinchberger, 2009). Violence mostly occur in any health care setting, However, it mostly occur in emergency department, waiting room, psychiatric ward and geriatric unit on which people involved psychological situations.

In reality, there are limited places that violence cannot happen, however, we are often surprised by some of the places violence does take place. One of the places many don’t expect violence to take place is in the hospital. Hospitals are designed to promote safety and provide medical care and nursing treatment for sick or injured people. Unfortunately, on January 12, 2016 a hospital security guard and a police officer endured near-fatal shootings by a drug-affected patient in Nepal. Rachel Olding, the author of an article written February 4, 2016 points out some concerns, thoughts, and ideas for improvement taken from hospital workers who have seen and experienced hospital violence firsthand. Hospitals need to be a place of safety for their patients, staff, and visitors.

The purpose of this review was to discover and asses the effects of healthcare worker directed violence on healthcare providers as well as the effect on patient care. There is sufficient evidence to say that workplace violence perpetrated by patients has a negative effect on the healthcare worker as well as the quality of care they are

The goal of this research was to quantitatively describe the occurrence of healthcare worker directed violence, describe how the violence is dealt with, and describe the consequences to the healthcare worker. This research was performed at a general hospital in Sweden using a cross-sectional survey that was dispersed to many types of healthcare workers ranging from physician to physical therapist to nursing assistant and midwife. The Survey of Violence Experience by Staff (SOVES-G-R) was given to 4,845 workers that had patient contact and 2,495 surveys were returned. Three categories are looked at using the SOVES-G-R including: individual characteristics, interactions, and organizational work environment. Results of these surveys showed that violence was seen by workers in all areas of patient care, often when medical or therapeutic interventions were taking place. The interventions used by the healthcare workers were also documented and found to be very inconsistent throughout the hospital, showing that the lack of education on avoidance of violence and de-escalation of violent patients was a problem that needs to be addressed throughout the healthcare

I spent nearly five years getting rid of the shadows that I have experienced sexual assault. This incident occurred in the winter when I was a five-grade student in primary school. However, until now, I still remember it.

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

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (2000) shows that 48% of all non-fatal work related assaults and acts of violence have occurred in health care and social service settings. Violence against mental health and health care workers has the potential to cause major physical injuries and psychological trauma. In return this poses serious consequences on employers such as increased turnover, medical and psychological care, increased absenteeism, decreased morale, job dissatisfaction, legal issues, and worker burn-out. Agencies and clinicians are encouraged to evaluate and identify the risks that are potential barriers in their agencies. Safety plans need to be implemented and strategized along with re-evaluations on a continuous basis (Taylor, H. 2013).

On January 11th, 2018 I was assaulted at work. Struck twice in the left jaw by a patient. I was rushed downstairs to a medical ER unit where I learned nothing was damaged physically to me. I would just have to deal with some pain, tenderness, and maybe swelling. When you work on an inpatient psychiatric unit the environment can be difficult at times, dealing with a population of mostly homeless individuals and criminals that sometimes have no regards to their mental health.

The common knowledge of the hospital is a place to get help for medical needs and feel safe. No one would think that a hospital is also a place for violence. Active shooting in the hospital setting is committed by a fired, disgruntled employee and angered patients or family members. The research study from the year 2000 to 2011 show that this kind of workplace violence remains rare, but still, a dilemma hospital has to face. The studies indicate that the emergency room is the most common place for the acts of violence to occur, but when the active shooter enters the hospital, anyone and any unit in the hospital is vulnerable. The articles reviewed in this paper showed how motivated and prepared the active shooters, and the hospital is

I enjoyed reading your post. You are right when you said workplace safety is a real problem for nurses especially for those who are working in the emergency department. In Australia, Opie, Lenthall, Dollard, Wakerman, MacLeod, Knight, and Rickard (2010) conducted a study on workplace violence and they concluded that the health care industry is more violence than even correctional facilities. Although there is violence in every healthcare setting, the violence in the emergency room is noticeable, and nurses in this area work under heavy emotional distress. According to Snow (2012), there is the reason that exacerbate the problem such as inadequate security personnel, nursing staffing shortage, lack of adequate equipment training, lack of supervision

Workplace violence is a serious and growing issue in society. Employers need to develop intervention strategies to decrease reduce violence in the workplace. Also, employers and employees need to be aware of the signs when people exhibit behaviors that can lead to workplace violence. As a society, the issue needs to be acknowledged of the reality and work together for creating a solution. Lastly, employers and employees must not live in fear of addressing concerns if they see the potential for workplace violence or report when they witness or experience workplace violence.