Question

10.Summarize the Violence in the Healthcare Setting section. Include interventions to promote a safe work environment.

Answer 1

ANSWER:- Violence is much more common in healthcare than in other industries, and although many violent events in healthcare are perpetrated by patients, a notable percentage are not. Individuals other than patients who may cause violence in healthcare settings include family members of patients and other visitors, employees, and criminals. Many factors contribute to violence in healthcare: patients and their loved ones are often vulnerable and, at times, distraught; healthcare workers must function in typically stressful environments; there is 24-hour access to the hospital setting; and the presence of drugs can make healthcare settings attractive targets.

Violence in healthcare may take a variety of forms, ranging from verbal aggression to physical assault, including the use of deadly weapons against physicians, other workers, and patients. It is therefore associated with a variety of risks for patient and worker safety as well as organizational liability. In addition to physical harm, individuals who experience or witness violence in the healthcare workplace are at risk for emotional consequences that can lead to time away from work, burnout, job dissatisfaction, and decreased productivity. These and other consequences compromise both worker and patient safety.

Healthcare facilities can reduce workplace violence by following a comprehensive workplace violence

prevention program

. An effective program includes five key components:

• Management commitment and worker participation

• Worksite analysis and hazard identification

• Hazard prevention and control

• Safety and health training

• Recordkeeping and program evaluation

A workplace violence prevention program can also fit effectively into a broader safety and health management system, and it can help your facility enhance employee and patient safety, improve the quality of patient care, and promote constructive labor-management relations.