The staff at Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage said they believe safety protocols designed to control violent patients prioritize patient safety over employees' safety, according to a report issued Sept. 7.
Here are five things to know:
1. The report, prepared by attorney Bill Evans, highlights a disconnect between employees who want stricter measures to control violent patients — like physical restraints or seclusion — and quality improvement workers who are trying to ensure the facility maintain compliance with CMS regulations.
2. Staff at the state-run hospital said they feel quality improvement workers make their jobs harder and create hesitancy in their decision-making, which causes dangerous workplace situations.
"A large segment of the staff believe that quality improvement [personnel] and the administration are being overly zealous in protecting patients and thereby reducing the staff's ability to maintain safe control of the units," Mr. Evans wrote in the report.
3. The report comes after API staff filed several complaints about the unsafe work environment and protested outside of the facility earlier this year.
"The fundamental cultural divide existing at API cannot be overstated as it permeates nearly all aspects of the workplace," Mr. Evans wrote. "At present the staff expresses tremendous anxiety about utilizing any force in any situation involving a patient as they are fearful that their interaction will be scrutinized by Ql based on video evidence and they will be disciplined or possibly terminated."
4. The report also outlines other grievances from employees, such as inefficient scheduling, which leads to severe understaffing and extreme overstaffing, no consequences for patients who assault staff members and favoritism among the nursing administration.
5. The report was addressed to Alaska Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth. Valerie Davidson, commissioner of the state's HHS department, said measures are underway to address the unsafe work environment at API.
"No employee should feel unsafe when they go to work, and clearly the report indicates we do have an unsafe work environment," Ms. Davidson told "We want to know the truth even if it's hard truth, and maybe it's more important to hear the truth when it's hard because we don't have a baseline from which to begin."