Global Health and Violence

Part 1 

Active shooting incidences are not isolated cases and can happen in any hospital. Although these cases are rare, they have been happening in the recent past at increased rates (Hospital Employee Health, 2013). One of the similarities in the articles is that the hospitals need to be prepared for such incidences to minimize their impacts such as loss of lives (Balingit, 2012). The preparation of the hospital should entail training the hospital employees to ensure that they can deal effectively with active shooting incidents when they occur. Moreover, it is important to design an effective communication channel that informs various departments of any impending danger and organize response when the disaster occurs (Hospital Employee Health, 2013). Moreover, nurses and other health practitioners should be able to account for all the patients, protect them, and be able to deal effectively with the families of the victims in case of the disaster occurring. There is also need to ensure that the security managers in the hospital are able to accept, assess, act, alert. 

The acceptance means that the individual is not in denial that the problem can occur and will be vigilant in assessing whether there is any impending danger on the employees. The acting process involves the response that all the agencies have in relation to the incident. The hospitals need to come up with a plan on how each department conducts itself when there is an active shooting incident (The Joint Commission, 2014. The process of alerting means communication with the rest of the agencies on how to deal with the incident. This should also include the police. The preparedness of the hospital should also include screening employees and other individuals accessing the hospital. The security officers working in the hospital should receive training on how to deal with such issues. 

Has your workplace prepared for an active shooter? What is the protocol? What preparations has your hospital taken? 

The workplace has prepared for any occurrence of active shooting. The security personnel are aware of what they should do when the incident occurs and what they should do to prevent such incidences. All the departments are aware of their roles during an active shooting incident. The roles are outlined in a well-written plan. Some of the measures taken to prevent damaging effects are a good communication system. The use of plain language helps in understanding how to respond to such events (Security InfoWatch, 2013). For instance, every staff member is aware that he or she hides or takes cover to save his or her lives. Responding to the shooter should be the last response. The communication not only goes to every department but also to the law enforcement officers (Sikes, Barnes, & Casida, 2018). Moreover, the time is of the essence in ensuring that lives are saved. The patients are also the first priority for every member of staff and their safety should be paramount in everything that the hospital does. 

What is your responsibility as a nurse caring for patients? 

The responsibility of the nurse is to account for the patients. The nurse has to ensure that he or she is aware of how to handle the critical patients. The handling is important in case of an evacuation of the patients. The nurse has to liaise with the security personnel they may need a police escort for the patients. The nurse has a role to play in ensuring the safety of the patients (Security InfoWatch, 2013). One of the responsibilities is to communicate in case of any imminent danger of active shooting in the hospital (Sikes, Barnes, & Casida, 2018). The nurse also needs to work closely with the security personnel to ensure that patients are protected especially those in critical care. The other role of the nurse is to help the victim’s families in dealing with the problem. In most cases, the shooters target specific individuals ad life may be lost in the process (Security InfoWatch, 2013). The nurse must be able to pass the information to the families in a way that does not add to the grief. Some of the family members require counseling to come to terms with what happened. 

Part 2 

Bullying in Nursing 

Bullying is a major challenge that is affecting the nursing profession. Bullying is a problem because of the many problems that it causes not only to the nurses but also to the health sector (Wilson, 2016). Nurses are unable to provide the patients with effective care if they are subjected to bullying by their seniors or their peers. Consequently, the issue of bullying has led to reduced job satisfaction amongst nurses, which increases the turnover rates. Bullying is one of the reasons why nurses leave the profession before their retirement dates (Wright & Khatri, 2015). Turnover is expensive for the health sector as it leads to the spending of billions of dollars in hiring and training new nurses. It is cheaper to retain those nurses already working in the profession compared to training new ones. 

Suggestions 

It is important to report any incident of bullying to the relevant authorities to ensure investigations take place and actions taken to save those affected (Wilson, 2016). There is need to educate nurses on the dangers of bullying, the types, and the causes of such bullying. Codes of acceptable conduct should also be introduced as a way to curb the vice among nurses. In a hospital setting, the managers should introduce a policy of zero tolerance. 

A bullied nurse should ensure they use a harmonious approach and work in collaboration with the authorities to reduce cases of intimidation at work. The nurse should develop a personal system of resilience to be able to deal effectively with the issue of bullying in the workplace (Wilson, 2016). Moreover, the nurse should ensure that the priority is the patient and that the cases of bullying do not affect the care given to the patients. If the nurse has a complaint, then he or she should take the concerns to the authorities where he or she feels confident that the concerns will be handled and justice is given. Without the culprits being punished, then it may be hard for the nursing profession to be free from bullying. 

Role of a Nurse 

A nurse has the responsibility of providing his or her colleagues with a conducive environment for them to work well. This entails treating all colleagues with empathy ensuring a workplace is a place of safety and not one with emotional stress (Karatza, Zyga, Tziaferi, & Prezerakos, 2016). A nurse who sees his or her colleague being bullied should report such cases to the relevant authorities for action to be taken. The nurse should feel free to be a whistleblower for the causes of bullying and the acts that may be facing other nurses in the workplace. One of the challenges facing nurses is the existence of managers who do not take action when bullying cases are reported (Karatza, Zyga, Tziaferi, & Prezerakos, 2016). Other nurses can take action by pressuring the managers to take action. In case this does not happen, the whistleblower can go above the managers to report the lack of action to the higher authorities. It is also important to help the victims of bullying with counseling to ensure the care provided to the patients is not affected by the bullying incidences. 

References 

Balingit, M. (2012, March 9). Hospital shootings shock Oakland 2 dead, 7 injured at Western Psych; Police kill gunman in an exchange of fire. Pittsburgh Post – Gazette. Retrieved from http://post-gazette.com/local/city/2012/03/09/Hospital-shootings-shock-Oakland/stories/201203090151 

Hospital Employee Health. (2013). Most hospital shootings are not preventable. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1282083457?accountid=34574 

Karatza, C., Zyga, S., Tziaferi, S., & Prezerakos, P. (2016). Workplace bullying and general health status among the nursing staff of Greek public hospitals.  Annals of General Psychiatry, 15 (1), 7. 

Security InfoWatch. (2013). Responding to active shooters in hospitals. SecurityInfoWatch.Com. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1434488744?accountid=34574 

Sikes, D. L., Barnes, G. A., & Casida, D. L. (2018). Active shooter on campus!  Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, 16 (1), 34-41. 

The Joint Commission. (2014). Preparing for active shooter situations. Quick Safety. Retrieved from https://www.jointcommission.org/issues/article.aspx?Article=h1wY0qOAjXjKMD9Np15aXCoh6JDFt4iaFxb%2f%2fTKfNWE%3d 

Wilson, J. L. (2016). An exploration of bullying behaviors in nursing: a review of the literature.  British Journal of Nursing, 25 (6), 303-306. 

Wright, W., & Khatri, N. (2015). Bullying among nursing staff: Relationship with psychological/behavioral responses of nurses and medical errors. Health care management review, 40(2), 139-147.