Violence In Health Care

1698 Words4 Pages

Violence and Aggression towards Health Care Professionals Any act or situation where a person damages another through physical or psychological attack affecting the integrity or reputation of the person is considered as violence. It comes in different forms and may occur in any setting. Violence may take place in the family, including battered wives or husbands and child abuse. Nevertheless, violence can strike even in the workplace. Since there is a collective incidence of violence in any form, it becomes one of the society’s concerns. Workplace violence is one of the major concerns of employers and employees affecting every country and every work setting. Health care professionals are vulnerable to workplace violence because of the conditions …show more content…

However, violent incidents frequently occur in emergency departments, psychiatric wards, geriatric units, and waiting rooms. Gacki-Smith and colleagues (2009) have studied a particularly vulnerable health care setting for violence, which is the emergency department. Registered nurse members of the Emergency Nurses Association were the respondents of the study. They had completed a 69-item survey to assess the workplace violence. Results revealed that 25 percent of the respondents have experienced physical violence more than 20 times in the past 3 years and 20 percent of them have experienced verbal abuse more than 200 times on the same period. Victims of both physical and verbal abuse have reported lack of support from hospital administration and fear of retribution. Health care providers in the emergency departments are vulnerable to violence primarily because of the highly stressful environment, the disruptive and intoxicated patients, and the urgent situation that needs critical …show more content…

Therefore, violence prevention on health care settings is indeed important. Effective protective strategy against violence must be strictly implemented on health care institutions to prevent the negative consequences on both the health care staff and the institution. Primarily, violence prevention focuses on three aspects namely, hospital organization, control of the physical environment, and staff education and development. Health care institutions must establish a strict policy toward workplace violence. It should cover all workers, patients, visitors, and all persons that may have contact with the hospital personnel. A well-written policy and clear workplace violence prevention program are relevant in maintaining a violent-free or if not, limiting the incidents of violence and aggression in the hospital settings. Staff education and development is a great tool to reduce the incidence of violence on health care

Open Document