Page 42 - Security Today, August 2017

Curbing the Violence
Violence in the workplace continues to escalate; healthcare workers at risk
BLy Paul Baratta
et me let you in on a troubling, not-so-little secret: vio- lence in the workplace is continuing to escalate in med- ical facilities, despite the fact that national assault rates have been dropping in recent years. In a statement by the International Council of Nurses, they noted that
healthcare workers are more likely to be attacked at work than prison guards or police officers.
Why are people in these environments so vulnerable? And what can hospitals, emergency care units and mental health facilities do to better protect staff, patients and visitors?
What’s Triggering the Rise in Violence?
Formulating a strategy for addressing this problem begins with ex- amining its root causes. Healthcare settings tend to be stressful envi- ronments for an array of reasons. Stress can trigger disruptive, and sometimes even violent, behavior. Just look at today’s headlines for ex- amples of how stress has been affecting behavior on crowded airplanes.
• •
What are some of the most common stressors in medical facilities? Increased wait times in hospital emergency centers.
Behavioral patients admitted to emergency departments with lit- tle or no information, and no intake facility willing or able to take the patient.
• Increased use of hospitals for treatment of acutely disturbed indi- viduals in lieu of jail or holding at police departments. Vulnerabilities stem from the open design of many medical facili-
ties such as the unrestricted movement of visitors, spillover of gang activity from the streets or prevalence of firearms entering the build- ing. Other issues stem from financial constraints and lack of staff training because of budgets cuts forcing leaner security staff, incon- sistent adherence to security protocols and staff inability to recognize warning signs of potentially violent behavior.
Establishing a Multi-pronged Approach to Security
Decreasing workplace violence requires a dedicated effort on mul- tiple fronts: people, procedures and technology.
People. From a people perspective, it starts with senior leader- ship accepting the fact that there’s always potential for violence in the workplace. So management must be willing to commit adequate funds to curb it. This includes actively promoting a workplace culture that values the importance of security.
Employee education is paramount. Everyone should be informed of the purpose of security measures and prevented from circumvent- ing electronic security devices put in place for their protection.
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0817 | SECURITY TODAY
MEDICAL FACILITY SECURITY
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