Workplace violence between patients and caregivers is a persistent problem that is mostly ignored or given minimal attention contrary to its magnitude. Only tragic cases of abuse are given substantial attention, with the most recurrent ones ignored. The pervasive problem of workplace violence continues to take root as attention is shifted to other issues. The extent of abuse in healthcare settings is best understood from the definition of workplace violence. Workplace violence includes any form of bullying, mobbing, assault, threats, sexual and general harassment towards works at their place of duty (Branch, Ramsay, & Barker, 2013). Violence against caregivers is a much more significant problem fuelled by ignorance on the issue and lack of proper legislation thus most cases are not reported, or the perpetrators go unpunished. Violence certainly affects service delivery and patient outcomes. This paper will focus on the problem of workplace violence in healthcare settings and suggest measures to be undertaken to deal with the problem.
Political factor that influence violence in healthcare setting relate to the constitution and laws passed to deal with offenders. If the existing laws are weak and not well defined, violent incidences are expected to be prevalent. However, if stringent measures are I place to control cases of violence against caregivers, incidences will be much fewer. Legislation on workplace violence in the US mainly exists at the state level. However, individual institutions or organizations are now required by law to have measures in place to curb workplace violence or to deal with offenders (Phillips, 2016). Furthermore. OSHA’s guidelines on healthcare settings violence prevention are voluntary and open to different interpretations. The ambiguity of definitions of violence and actions that amount to harassment contributes to the reluctance of victims to report incidences of violence. The American Nurses Association (ANA) has petitioned OSHA to come up with programs that will prevent abuse and to make the programs mandatory (Phillips, 2016). Since hospitals attend to patients with various needs example psychiatric and drug-abuse cases, the guidelines have to consider all these.
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OSHA’s guidelines on workplace violence prevention program comprise five steps that organizations have to adhere to; employee and management participation, identification of potential hazards, hazard prevention, training and finally record keeping. (Environment of Care News, 2015). Leadership commitment involves motivation to employees to report cases of violence and provision of resources to fight violence. Since employee participation commitment goes hand in hand, caregivers are required to work with the management to fight violence incidences. The workplace of caregivers should be analyzed for risk factors of workplace violence by experts and come up with measures to prevent the violence from happening. Implementation of the controls should also involve follow up to ensure that organizations are adhering to the rules. Training of caregivers is crucial in violence prevention. Staff members who are aware of the risks and the scope of incidences that amount to violence are more likely to deal with the abuse professionally unlike those who have little information on workplace violence hence may be compelled to retaliate leading to an escalation of the violence. Finally, records have to be kept of violence incidences and measures taken after the incidences. Similarly, strategies put in place for violence prevention are recorded and assessed for their success and failures.
Comparatively, ANA policy for zero tolerance to workplace violence advocates for policies and programs in organizations to enhance safety for caregivers (ANA, 2015). The plans include proper training and education of workplace violence and identification of potential risks. The association also empowers its members to report violent acts against them or their colleagues (ANA, 2015). ANA maintains that the programs and policies in place should strictly be within the nurses’ code of ethics. The association’s policy for zero tolerance to workplace violence is in line with OSHA’s regulations to organizations on steps to prevent violence against caregivers.
Organizations can come up with safety policies and procedures for prevention as well as fast response to violence incidences against caregivers. One of the most fundamental but effective safety policies is to install metal detectors at entrances of medal facilities. This plan helps to prevent exposure of healthcare workers to offenders who may cause harm using weapons. An effective strategy of ensuring fast response to violence against healthcare workers in the provision of duress alarms linked to hospital security teams and supervisors. Such gadgets can be helpful in cases where the caregiver is attacked or under threat of bodily harm. Risk management is another method of preventing violence. The work environment for healthcare presents many risks for violence. However, proper design of the facilities and training of workers are effective methods of preventing violence (Peggy Berry MSN, 2013). Research figures indicate that only 30% of violent incidences against healthcare workers are reported (Phillips, 2016). Training of caregivers is therefore vital in enforcing the zero-tolerance policy against workplace violence.
To conclude with, the problem of violence against caregivers in healthcare settings has not been accorded the utmost attention that it deserves. The persistence of the problem throughout all levels of healthcare means that it's more severe than initially thought. Various factors that contribute to incidences of violence like lack of proper legislation and the ambiguity of the definition of occurrences that amount to abuse need to be addressed. Although both the ANA and OSHA have policies that have zero tolerance to workplace violence on healthcare setting, training of caregivers is even more critical in addressing the issue.
References
ANA. (2015). American Nurses Association position statement on incivility, bullying, and workplace violence. Silver Springs, MD: American Nurses Association.
Branch, S., Ramsay, S., & Barker, M. (2013). Workplace bullying, mobbing and general harassment: A review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(3) , 280-299.
Environment of Care News. (2015). Guidelines for Zero Tolerance. The environment of Care News, 18(8). The environment of Care News, 18(8) , 8-11.
Peggy Berry MSN, R. N. (2013). Stressful incidents of physical violence against emergency nurses. Online journal of issues in nursing, 18(1) , 76.
Phillips, J. P. (2016). Workplace violence against health care workers in the United States. New England journal of medicine, 374(17) , 1661-1669.
Vladutiu, C. J., Casteel, C., Nocera, M., Harrison, R., & Peek‐Asa, C. (2016). Characteristics of workplace violence prevention training and violent events among home health and hospice care providers. American journal of industrial medicine, 59(1) , 23-30.
