ESSAY: Nursing and Workplace Violence

Assessment 4 Brainstorming

Nursing and Workplace Violence

Instructions

Your workplace has experienced some serious problems with workplace violence that occurred between patients and caregivers.  A new initiative has been introduced to educate nurses, health care workers, and social services workers on how to prevent workplace violence.  You have been asked to write an article on workplace violence and prevention measures for the hospital employee newsletter.

Preparation

Search for scholarly and professional peer-reviewed articles on workplace violence.  You will need at least five articles to use as support for your work on this assessment.

Directions

Write 3 pages on workplace violence and prevention measures for the hospital employee newsletter.  Address the following in your article: 

• Identify the political, legal, and/or legislative factors that may contribute to violence in health care settings.  Consider the types of patients that may be treated within a clinical or hospital setting.
• Compare OSHA regulations and the ANA position statement on workplace violence to organizational policies.
• Explain safety policies and protocols for preventing and responding to violence against health care workers.

Additional Requirements:

Presentation should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• References: Cite a minimum of five resources, with the majority being peer-reviewed sources.  Your reference list should be appropriate to the body of literature available on this topic that has been published in the past 5 years.
• APA format: Resources and citations should be formatted according to current APA style and formatting.
• Length: 750 words or 3 typed, double-spaced pages, excluding title page and reference page.  Use Microsoft Word to complete the assessment.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.

Grading Points

1.  Identifies the political, legal, and/or legislative factors that may contribute to violence in health care settings, and provides real-world examples that demonstrate in-depth understanding.

2.  Explains the main components of OSHA’s workplace violence prevention guidelines and suggests benchmarks to determine if the guidelines are being followed.

3.  Explains the American Nursing Association’s position on violence in the workplace and compares it to organizational policies on workplace violence.

4.  Explains safety policies and protocols for preventing and responding to violence against health care workers and reflects on their effectiveness.

5. Writes clearly and logically, with correct use spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics, and uses relevant evidence to support a central idea.

6.  Correctly formats citations and references using APA style.  Citations are free from all errors.

References

Doby, V. (2015). Leadership’s role in eliminating workplace violence and changing perceptions in the emergency department. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 41(1), 7.

Blando, J., Ridenour, M., Hartley, D., & Casteel, C. (2015). Barriers to effective implementation of programs for the prevention of workplace violence in hospitals. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 20(1), 1–11.

Bruce, M. D., & Nowlin, W. A. (2011). Workplace violence: Awareness, prevention, and response. Public Personnel Management, 40(4), 293–308.

Saltzberg, C. W., & Clark, C. M. (2015). A bold call to action: Mobilizing nurses and employers to prevent and address incivility, bullying, and workplace violence. (2015). American Nurse Today, 10(8), 1.

Gillespie, G. L., Gates, D. M., Miller, M., & Howard, P. K. (2010). Workplace violence in healthcare settings: Risk factors and protective strategies. Rehabilitation Nursing, 35(5), 177–184.

Magnavita, N. (2014). Workplace violence and occupational stress in healthcare workers: A chicken-and-egg situation-results of a 6-year follow-up study. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46(5), 366–376.

Speegle-Clark, K. (2013). Violence in the workplace: A prevention program for healthcare workers. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 1539707).

Papa, A., & Venella, J. (2013). Workplace violence in healthcare: Strategies for advocacy. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 18(1), 1.

United States Department of Labor, Occupational Health & Safety Administration. (n.d.). Workplace violence. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthcarefacilities/violence.html

United States Department of Labor, Occupational Health and Safety Administration. (n.d.). Workplace violence prevention – Health care and social service workers. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/dte/library/wp-violence/healthcare/

AACN. (n.d.). Position statement: Workplace violence prevention. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.org/WD/Practice/Docs/Workplace_Violence.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (n.d.). Occupational violence. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/violence/training_nurses.html

Liss, G. M. (2000). Violence in the health care workplace. CMAJ, 162(4). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1231158/

What are the more common reasons for workplace violence?

Drugs, alcohol, general public, mental illness, money, high crime areas

What clinical risk factors can lead to workplace violence?

mental illness, life/death decisions, general public, education level

What obligation does a health care facility have to protect workers from violence?

High obligation

What personal safety strategies do you have to protect yourself from violence at work?

Self-defense classes/training, constant education on self-defense, constant assessment of surroundings

ANSWER

Workplace violence and Prevention Measures

Workplace violence is entrenched among the employers and the employees in the healthcare setting. Violence in the healthcare facilities escalates to physical confrontations which lead to the death of workers in extreme cases (Blando, Ridenour, Hartley & Casteel, 2015). According to Saltzberg and Clark (2015), workplace violence is a multifaceted issue worthy of concern that underscores physical assault, verbal abuse, and threatening behavior. Recently, research has proved that in every week, approximately twenty employees are murdered in the United States due to workplace violence (Bruce & Nowlin, 2011). In fact, places that were once considered safe such as teaching, social work, healthcare and urban transit are now experiencing increasing workplace violence. Therefore, this paper is an empirical analysis of the regulations, guidelines, American Nursing Association’s position on violence and measures to prevent workplace violence.

Legal, or Legislative Factors That May Contribute To Violence in Healthcare Settings

To be an effective manager, not only in the healthcare system but also in any corporate set up, it is paramount to comprehend the basic ethical and legal principles that affect the work environment. Among these factors include the existing legal relationship between the consumers and the organization and in this case the healthcare providers and the patients. The politic, legal and legislative factors need to be accounted because of the healthcare sector fraught with challenging situations which underscore ethical dilemmas (Blando, Ridenour, Hartley & Casteel, 2015).

Mental Health Parity act of 1996 defines the parity or equality between annual limits and lifetime of the healthcare insurance compensations on both medical care and mental health. This act does not mandate the employer to coverage for mental health. Moreover, it does not impose deductible payments nor does it cover substance abuse. As such, the mass killing of twenty children and six adults is as a result of the incomprehensive aftermath of this Act (Shern & Lindstrom, 2013).  In the United States, there is an increasing correlation between mental illness and violence which range from simple phobias to schizophrenia. People with untreated initial conditions of psychosis are indeed fifteen times more likely to engage in violent activities (Shern & Lindstrom, 2013). The high number of uninsured people plays a significant role in the increasing untreated conditions that escalate the prevalence of violence in the patient handling. The incomprehensiveness associated with this clause has spurred various states in the U.S to develop and implement particular parity legislations.    Another political issue of concern is the implication of bullying in the workplace. Bullying has attracted political concerns among the…