What is Workplace Violence? Any extent of violent disruption in the workplace, whether it is physical violence, harassment, or threats, is considered workplace violence. Workplace violence can be seen anywhere—from the office to even a hospital. Not only does it affect the employees, but also customers and visitors as well. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), nearly two million workers in the United States have reported workplace violence annually (“Workplace Violence,” n.d.). Anyone can be targeted by workplace violence and everyone is susceptible. An article in Business Management Daily discussed the four ways the workplace has become more dangerous: improper use of hiring methods, workplace bullying, …show more content…
The bullying can be both verbal and nonverbal, through examples like cyberbullying. Many employees can be harassed through email, phone, and social media. For instance, say an employee in a company is disabled. One day Mr. Joe Schmo goes to his social media site while off work and posts discriminatory comments on the employee’s disfigurement. As more comments and posts on the employee’s disfigurement gets shared, the more likely it is that the harassment will reach the workplace. In most cases this should be resolved by human resources, but unfortunately there are cases where employers will either ignore the issue or forget to resolve …show more content…
Most workplaces currently have a “zero tolerance” policy for workplace violence. Human resources should be responsible for having clearly written paperwork that outlines workplace policies so that all employees are aware. Not only should there be policies clearly written, but there should be steps the employee can follow to ensure that workplace violence does not happen to them. According to a recent survey, 40 percent of employers in the US today have developed an emergency response protocol. Thirty-eight percent have conducted training sessions that taught their employees on how to recognize and respond to violence in the workforce (‘Zero Tolerance’ for Workplace Violence,
Workplace bullying is defined as any as any type of repetitive abuse in which the victim of the bullying behaviour suffers verbal abuse, threats, humiliating or intimidating behaviours, or behaviours that interfere with his or her job performance and are meant to place at risk the health and safety of the victim (Murray, 2009). Bullying can take many forms, some blatant, others more subtle. Researchers ha...
Nurses continually strive to bring holistic, efficient, and safe care to their patients. However, if the safety and well-being of the nurses are threatened or compromised, it is difficult for nurses to work effectively and efficiently. Therefore, the position of the American Nurses Association (ANA) advocate that every nursing professional have the right to work in a healthy work environment free of abusive behavior such as bullying, hostility, lateral abuse and violence, sexual harassment, intimidation, abuse of authority and position and reprisal for speaking out against abuses (American Nurses Association, 2012).
Workplace bullying is an issue at my current place of employment. It pertains specifically to my experiences and observations of a staff member who feels the need to demoralize and abuse her co-workers and patients. Her harsh mannerisms, including aggressiveness and manipulation had a negative impact on many staff
Workplace violence in the nursing profession has been extensively reported and documented. It is associated with serious negative consequences both for the nurse and their patients. Such disruptive behaviors in the nursing profession severely impact the emotional and mental well-being of the nurses that in turn affects retaining qualified and experiences staff in a healthcare organization. Such type of violence is considered as a major occupational hazard and condemned by major nursing organizations including the CENTER for American Nurses and American Nurse Organization. In the nursing profession workplace violence includes several types of negative behavior such as lateral violence, bullying and aggression. Lateral or horizontal violence is described as harmful or disrespectful behavior towards a coworker or a group of coworkers which in essence denies them of their basic human right and has a profound negative effect on their self-esteem and confidence (Becher & Visovsky, 2012). While lateral violence is mostly observed among peers or coworkers bullying is generally observed between a higher authority staff and those working under them such as a nursing supervisor and a staff nurse. Bullying is mostly verbal in nature which involves the use of abusive language, intimidation, insult and using authority to subdue, threaten or humiliate their subordinates (Lateral Violence and Bullying, 2008). When nurses are subjected to any kind of horizontal violence or bullying over a period of time it unduly affects them with physical, emotional, mental and financial consequences. In addition such workplace violence also brings forth negative consequences for the healthcare organization and patients in particular. Thus given the seriousness o...
In the early 1980s aggression and violence in the workplace have been a source of a lot of public discussion. (Piquero pg.383) The issues have risen again recently and have mostly been present in management and business fields. Workplace aggression often includes “behavior by an individual or individuals within or outside organizations that is intended to physically or psychologically harms a worker or workers and occurs in a work related”. (Schat& Kelloway Pg. 191) A national survey Conducted by the National Centers for Victims of Crime shows several statistics regarding workplace homicide by type show that is the year of (see fig. 1), violent crimes against victims working or an duty( see fig. 2) and nonfatal workplace violence committed by strangers(see fig. 3
Nurses are professionals who, besides the caring personality, possess a great deal of patience, loyalty and strong work ethic; however, not all nurses adhere to the standard of ethic in their practice. Inappropriate, aggressive behavior among nurses, which earlier was known as “nurses eat their young”, in todays’ nursing draws particular attention of the health care managers and policy makers under the term of horizontal workplace violence. Among other challenges, which contemporary nursing faces daily, the significance of horizontal violence, or bulling, is in its detrimental effects on the quality of nursing care, workplace satisfaction, workforce retention and the health of nurses (Vessey, DeMarco, & DiFazio, 2011). Knowing
Workplace violence is any type of threat or hostility acted out against workers. It can occur in or out of the workplace and can range from threats and verbal abuse, to physical assaults and homicide. This has become one of the leading causes of job-related deaths (OSHA). Workplace violence can happen at any given point in time to anyone. No one is untouchable.
Workplace violence is scary and intense. It doesn’t matter who you are in the situation, the victim, onlooker, or even the committer, it is frightening. When something happens to push an employee over the edge into violent action, many other employees are inadvertently involved. I observed a case of workplace violence many years ago, but I will not forget it anytime soon.
Workplace violence is a frustrating issue confronting businesses today. While more data on the reason for violence and how to handle it is getting known, there is frequently no sensible basis for this sort of behavior and, in spite of all that we know or do, fierce circumstances happen. No superintendent is resistant from working environment brutality and no manager can completely anticipate it.Workplace violence can cause many issues for a business, from extra expense, to how to deal with the problem, and prevent it from happening in the future.
Municipality refers to an area with a government that has the authority and mandate to provide security, amenities, and other infrastructures needed by locals of the area. A committee or a council administers municipalities in Canada. Their main obligation ranges from overseeing the financial budget to implementation of services to the community. The Municipal Act of 2001 is a statute, which was legislated to provide guidelines for creating a municipality, managing it and provide smooth running of business by the municipal committee in Ontario.
Workplace violence is a serious issue in all workplace settings in the United States, health care included. It is unfortunate that places that offer services to help better people’s health and lives are also places that experience terrifying life-threatening situations, but this is sadly the case. Between the years of 2000 and 2011, there were 154 documented, hospital-related shooting events in 148 hospitals across the nation that affected 253 victims (Kelen, Catlett, Kubut, & Hsieh, 2012). Not only is workplace violence physically harmful to the health care staff and patients, but it also causes emotional harm. According to Blando, O’Hagan, Casteel, Nocera, and Peek-Asa, “Potential for violence affects nurse performance, job satisfaction, employee turnover and retention, and patient satisfaction” (2013).
Violence against emergency Department Nurses The U.S. Department of Justice survey showed that health care sector led all other sectors in the incidence of non-fatal workplace assaults and that nurses were the most likely of health care workers to be assaulted. [23]Assault rates are particularly high among Emergency Department (ED) nurses. [24] A study of 125 nurses at a regional medical center found that 82 percent of ED nurses had been physically assaulted at work during 2001. [25] In a survey of Workplace Violence across 65 U.S. Emergency Departments key informants reported more than 3,461 physical attacks over 5-year period.
Workplace harassment is unwelcome actions that are based on a person’s race, religion, color, and sex, and gender, country of origin, age, ethnicity or disability. The targets of the harassment are people who are usually perceived as “weaker” or “inferior” by the person who is harassing them. Companies and employers can also be guilty of workplace harassment if they utilize discriminatory practices against persons based on ethnicity, country of origin, religion, race, color, age, disability, or sex. These discriminatory practices have been illegal since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Civil Rights Act of 1964), and have been amended to be more inclusive of other people who experience discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1991 (The Civil Rights Act of 1991), and most recently, President Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (Stolberg, 2009).
“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration defines workplace violence as any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site” (Renker et al., 2015). The many types of physical violence that nurses are subjected to include hitting, kicking, voided on, spit on, pushed or shoved, hair pulling and even sexual assault (Hajaj, 2014). Verbal violence includes any derogatory remarks or threats such as swearing or cursing, name calling, sexual harassment, intimidation, slander, and threats of physical contact (Jack et al., 2015). Violence is not just limited to patients but can include family members and visitors as well. According to a study done at a level one
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.