Are you Afraid? I am.

It's Time to Look at Workplace Violence

Did you see this event that happened on Monday? A resident at a Long Term Care Facility shot an employee in an altercation.

http://www.king5.com/news/Resident-at-Stanwood-senior-living-home-shoots-employee-189741271.html

While I am sad and, frankly, nauseous, I am not surprised.


Long Term Care has all the risks of hospitals:
>Visitors/Families under stress
>Confused residents
>Overwhelmed staff stretched very thin

But Long Term Care also has some additional challenges when it comes to worker safety:
>No formal security
>Employees and Residents have more intimate relationships and Professional Boundaries get blurred
>A Home-Like environment that sometimes encourages residents to bring in guns or illicit drugs (I once had to shoo out not 1, but 2 prostitutes with drugs when I served my time as Director of Nursing)
>Less restrictive visiting hours
>Doors that are not monitored

This is not a new problem. I remember being 12 years old and my mother coming home early from her job as a Nursing Assistant. She was crying because a resident had grabbed her in a completely inappropriate place, held on very tight and smacked her so hard, her contacts came out and tore. That was 14 years ago.

I also remember what her response was and as I look back on the situation, I am truly sad at her response. Not because of her by any means. My mother is the strongest person I know. Because her response had nothing to do with the violence. It was a response that workers still give today because noone has any answers to this problem.

As a single mother with absolutely no dispensable income, her response was to be thankful that the nursing home she worked at was going to replace her contacts and pay for the rest of her day off.

She didn't talk about how the administration was going to take steps to reduce this violence. She took no extra classes on how staff could protect themselves. She wasn't invited to take part in a Safety Committee that specifically focused on Workplace Violence.

And... She went back to work the very next day. Just like Healthcare Workers today do.

I don't have any easy answers. Answers to Workplace Violence aren't easy to come by. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) does have some suggestions:
1) Employers and Employees should develop and maintain a violence prevention program as part of the facilities safety programs
2) A Worksite Analysis should be done. A Step by Step common sense look at the workplace to find existing or potential hazards for workplace violence
3) TRAINING To make staff aware of security hazards and how to protect themselves through establised policies, procedures and training.
I think a HUGE key to reducing workplace violence is to have Management Commitment to safety and Employee Involvement in the policies, procedures and training.

Whatcha Think? Comment Below and tell me how you feel.