Workplace Violence In The Healthcare Industry

Workplace Violence in the Healthcare Industry

Adetokunbo Adebayo

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing

Abstract

The climate of the healthcare industry, and of nursing in particular, is often a violent and dangerous one. Violence in the workplace is defined by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as “physically and/or psychologically damaging actions that occur in the workplace or while on duty” (“Incivility, Bullying, and Workplace Violence”). Healthcare professionals are often faced with workplace violence and as such must be trained on how to deal with these incidents. Incidents of violence are most prevalent among the nursing staff, psychiatric staff, and home health aides

in the healthcare industry. These professionals have lost over 7,000 days of work in just one year due to violent injury. In response to this loss of productivity, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has presented guidelines to the healthcare industry for how to deal with workplace violence. The American Nursing Association has also constructed guidelines for the prevention and minimization of workplace violence.

Violence in the workplace has had general impacts on every industry, but has had specific impacts on the healthcare industry and nursing in particular.

In order to fully explore the topic of workplace violence and how it affects the healthcare industry, one must consider both the changes to the healthcare industry itself that violence has caused and the impacts the violence has on healthcare workers. “The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines workplace violence as violent acts directed toward persons at work or on duty,” which means that workplace violence in the healthcare industry would be violence against healthcare practitioners and their staff (Sharma & Sharma, 2016). The violence that occurs in this industry has led to the creation of training programs designed to prevent workplace violence. These programs are not the only consequence of workplace violence though, as it has not only had impacts on the healthcare industry, but on the lives of nurses as

well.
Workplace violence has had an impact on the way healthcare professionals are trained and on the way OSHA (Occupations Safety & Health Administration) guidelines for healthcare and social workers have been set. The guidelines set forth by OSHA on the subject suggest that healthcare employers should implement workplace violence prevention programs. These programs train healthcare practitioners in various strategies to prevent or minimize violence in the workplace. OSHA’s guidelines state that “Employees should understand concept of ‘Universal Precautions for Violence,’ i.e., that violence should be expected but can be avoided or mitigated through preparation,” and that, “Employees should be instructed to limit physical interventions in workplace altercations unless designated emergency response teams or security personnel are available” (“Workplace Violence Prevention – Health Care and Social Workers”). So despite the training received by healthcare professionals, they can and should still expect and prepare for violence in the workplace.
The safety of nurses in particular is threatened often by workplace violence.

NIOSH further defines workplace violence as “physically and/or psychologically damaging actions that occur in the workplace or while on duty” (“Incivility, Bullying, and Workplace Violence”). This means that workplace violence not only includes actual physical harm to the nursing staff, but may also include things such as bullying, humiliation, and/or incivility. Nurses are often targeted by patients, as they are the healthcare professionals who interact most frequently with patients. In a video presented by the American Nursing Association, they describe recommendations set forth in their position statement that include, “Setting a ‘zero tolerance’ policy, encouraging employees to report violent incidents, and developing a comprehensive violence prevention program” (The Hard Truth: Bullying and Workplace Violence in Health Care, 2015). It is easy to see that the nursing world has been greatly impacted by workplace violence and that the nurses in America are expected to take a proactive stance on the issue. However, in 2013, nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides still missed over 7,000 days of work as a result of violent injuries, with only a fraction of these injuries being unintentional (“Workplace Violence in

Healthcare”).
Workplace violence is a major issue that many industries face, but none seem as affected as the healthcare industry. Healthcare professionals are faced with violence, bullying and incivility on a daily basis, and must not only learn to cope, but learn strategies to help prevent and minimize the occurrence of such events. Despite the efforts of OSHA and the American Nursing Association to alleviate these difficulties, they are still prevalent and a very real issue that healthcare staff and nurses in particular must face. The fact is that workplace violence may always be an issue for nursing staff, however, with time and effort the violent climate of the healthcare industry might begin to change. 
References
Incivility, Bullying, and Workplace Violence. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2016, from http://www.nursingworld.org/Bullying-Workplace-Violence
Sharma, R. K., & Sharma, V. (2016, April 06). Work Place Violence in Nursing. Retrieved June 4, 2016, from http://www.omicsgroup.org/journals/work-place-violence-in-nursing-2167-1168-1000335.php?aid=72181
The Hard Truth: Bullying and Workplace Violence in Health Care [Motion picture on Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCiyp0s2G0o]. (2015). United States: American Nursing Association.
Workplace Violence Prevention - Health Care and Social Service Workers. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2016, from https://www.osha.gov/dte/library/wp-violence/healthcare/
Workplace Violence in Healthcare. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2016, from https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3826.pdf