Nurses face dangers of workplace violence
Marlene A. Prost, writing for Human Resource Executive Online, reports that workplace violence is a growing problem for nurses.
She cites reports from Australia and the United States showing that about half of nurses in two surveys had been punched or otherwise assaulted in the past year. It appears the assaults are coming from patients and their families and friends.
However, Prost reports, nursing and hospital associations are taking notice and action, such as “improving security, encouraging incident reports and fighting to strengthen state laws to prevent violence and punish offenders.”
Hospitals are using guidelines from The Joint Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to make nurses safer. They also are training nurses to defuse volatile situations and encouraging them to report incidents, according to the article.
Reporters may be able to find more information through the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the American Nurses Association also has information about workplace violence. The Joint Commission issued a Sentinel Event Alert in 2008 about intimidating and disruptive behaviors in the health care environment.
Comments
One Comment on Nurses face dangers of workplace violence
-
151 hospitals use Tasers to control unruly patients : Covering Health on
Mon, 26th Jul 2010 10:07 am
[...] points out that “The hospital environment is not 100 percent calm and peaceful all the time. Acts of violence do occur against staff, physicians, nurses, those types of things, and really the best method of security is [...]
Please read our blog commenting policies.
-
Join us in Atlanta
for Health Journalism 2012
Fellowship applications
due Feb. 27
New at HealthJournalism.org
- Data gives depth to investigation of patient safety
- What reporters should know about Alzheimer’s and related dementias
- Apply for fellowships to attend Health Journalism 2012
- AHCJ asks Supreme Court to permit broadcast of arguments in health reform case
- Tips for print, online journalists to embrace broadcast opportunities
- Numbers reveal how often, or how rarely, states check doctors’ disciplinary records
- How I did it: Falsified charts in nursing homes linked to patient care
- Access Denied: Looking at a lack of health care availability
- Transparency & medical errors: Public reporting of patient harm is a potent force
