For healthcare workers, workplace violence is an everyday occurrence that often goes unnoticed, according to The Joint Commission.
The accrediting body highlighted the prevalence of workplace violence and shared several strategies to combat the issue in a sentinel event alert released April 17.
Here are seven steps hospitals can take to prevent workplace violence, as listed by The Joint Commission.
1. Share a clear definition of workplace violence with employees and implement violence and abuse reporting systems. Hospital leadership should also emphasize the importance of reporting all physical and verbal violence toward employees and patients.
2. Capture and track workplace violence reports from various sources. Hospitals should regularly distribute this information to employees.
3.Offer support to workplace violence victims, such as psychological counseling or trauma informed care.
4. Analyze every instance of workplace violence and identify factors that contributed to the event. Hospitals should share risk assessment findings with staff.
5. Create quality improvement initiatives to prevent workplace violence. These initiatives may include changing the hospital's physical environment, work practices or administrative procedures.
6. Provide de-escalation, self-defense and emergency code response training for hospital employees. Hospitals should also conduct regular practice drills.
7. Evaluate workplace violence reduction initiatives to identify areas of improvement.