Addressing Safety in Nursing: Protecting our Providers

• Safety in nursing must be a priority, as it directly impacts patient care.
• Over the past few years, the incidence of workplace violence has been on an upward trend and is directly impacting our healthcare and social service providers.
• Want to know what you can do to improve safety in nursing not only in your facility but on a state and national scale? Keep reading!

One may assume that patients are respectful, thankful, and kind to the nurses and others providing their care; but it is becoming more and more frequent that patient violence toward nurses and other healthcare team members is happening.  

This issue is much more common than people realize. 

Workplace Violence and Its Impact on Safety in Nursing

Workplace violence is defined by the ANA as:

Any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening, disruptive behavior from patients, patient’s family members, external individuals, and hospital personnel. It includes physical, sexual, and psychological assaults.

Following, the ANA reports that one in four nurses are assaulted in the workplace, and only 20 to 60% of the incidents are reported.

This is not okay.

We are continuing to see headlines of nurses who have been brutally attacked while working on the front lines, but where do we draw the line? 

When is it time to enforce better safety in nursing?

Who Can Cause Workplace Violence?

• Those who have no association with the workplace or employee  
• Patients, their families, or friends 
• A current or former employee 

The Incidence is Only Growing

In a 2018 study, The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), reported that 70% of emergency physicians believe that the prevalence of violence in the ER is increasing. 

However, this report is solely from ER physicians.  

A 2019 Statista report concludes that the average physician spends roughly 17 to 24 minutes per patient per day; however, a 2018 American Medical Informatics Association study reports that nurses spend 30 minutes or more with each patient. 

This creates a larger window of opportunity for safety in nursing to be threatened. 

Hospital environments can foster extreme levels of stress and fear among the illnesses being treated; all of which are major contributors to patient/provider aggression and agitation.  

Frequent acts of violence against healthcare providers can pose negative impacts, including high percentages of burnout and PTSD diagnoses.

What Can We Do About It?

Policy Making

As of July 1, 2021, the state of Tennessee is one of the first in the U.S. to deem a knowingly violent act against a nurse as a Class A misdemeanor charge. However, if the act is considered aggravated assault, the perpetrator will face a Class C felony charge.

Although this is not a direct solution to solving the various problems toward safety in nursing, it is a start in the right direction.  

Advocating for Change

Over the course of several years, members of National Nurses United have actively advocated for regulations to be put in place to ensure the safety of those in the healthcare professions. 

As of April 2021, The House of Representatives passed the “Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act” that requires both healthcare and social service employers to provide workplace violence prevention plans in compliance with the guidelines outlined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the Department of Labor.  

This is a monumental step forward to promoting safety in nursing and all healthcare and social service professions; however, there is more work to be done. 

If You See Something, Say Something

As previously mentioned, there are a vast number of cases of workplace violence that often go unreported, causing the prevalence of the issue to increase.  

Whether it is based on fears of being reprimanded by management, risking the chances of an additional act of violence to occur in or outside of the workplace, or fears of damaging a relationship, if you witness an act of workplace violence that endangers safety in nursing or of any profession, please report it.  

If it is a patient, a family member of the patient, a colleague, a physician, a superior, or anyone who is also a part of the interdisciplinary care team, there is never a valuable reason to not report an act of violence.  

Addressing the problem at its inception is the only way we can combat its prevalence in the workplace.  

Ensuring safety in nursing ensures safety in patient care delivery, which makes for more positive outcomes. 

Have you as a nurse experienced violence from a patient, family member, or other co-worker? Or do you know of someone who has? What was done in the situation?  

Take a stand and make a change.

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