The number of assaults in hospitals and other healthcare workplaces are four times the level of all private-sector industries, perhaps because physicians are now less respected and healthcare is seen as a business, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal Health Blog.
Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, two researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the site of a deadly shooting in September, reported there are eight assaults per 10,000 workers in healthcare, compared with 2 per 10,000 for all industries.
The authors said physicians are no longer "viewed with reverence," healthcare is increasingly viewed as a business and patients are often frustrated with the healthcare system." Societal incivility may have reached new lows," wrote the authors, who work in the Johns Hopkins ED.
In addition to ID checks and security cameras, the authors recommend regular threat assessments and staff education on how to recognize dangerous situations and de-escalate potentially violent behavior.
They did not recommend walk-through metal detectors because such equipment can't prevent assaults that don’t involve guns, may create a false sense of security and can even introduce weapons into the hospital since they are often staffed by armed guards.
Read the Wall Street Journal Health Blog report on assaults.
Read more coverage of assaults on hospital employees.
- Hospitals Not Providing Enough Protection Against Attacks on Staff
- Hospitals Facing Spate of Fatal Shootings, But Most Still Don't Use Metal Detectors
Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, two researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the site of a deadly shooting in September, reported there are eight assaults per 10,000 workers in healthcare, compared with 2 per 10,000 for all industries.
The authors said physicians are no longer "viewed with reverence," healthcare is increasingly viewed as a business and patients are often frustrated with the healthcare system." Societal incivility may have reached new lows," wrote the authors, who work in the Johns Hopkins ED.
In addition to ID checks and security cameras, the authors recommend regular threat assessments and staff education on how to recognize dangerous situations and de-escalate potentially violent behavior.
They did not recommend walk-through metal detectors because such equipment can't prevent assaults that don’t involve guns, may create a false sense of security and can even introduce weapons into the hospital since they are often staffed by armed guards.
Read the Wall Street Journal Health Blog report on assaults.
Read more coverage of assaults on hospital employees.
- Hospitals Not Providing Enough Protection Against Attacks on Staff
- Hospitals Facing Spate of Fatal Shootings, But Most Still Don't Use Metal Detectors