Violence Against Nurses More Common Than You Think
Have you ever been slapped, kicked, shoved, or bitten by a patient? Have you had your hair, earring, or clothing pulled? Has a patient ever thrown something at you, knocked something out of your hands, or spit in your face? Has a relative used abusive language, sworn at you, or threatened you if you tried to enforce a hospital policy or did not comply with a demand?
If the answer to all of these questions is "no," consider yourself one of the lucky few nurses to have escaped verbal and physical abuse at the hands of patients, family members, or visitors in the course of your duties.
All in a Day's Work?
Of all the expectations that nurses have of their employers, feeling safe at work should be at the top of the list. If nurses don't feel safe, and if they believe that their employer tolerates violence, loss of trust will follow.
Nurses will be reluctant to report abuse because they are pessimistic about administration's response – managers won't care, they will blame the nurse, or they simply won't do anything about it. "The first time I was assaulted by a patient," explains Rebekah Howerton Child, RN, MSN, CEN, "I was spit in the face.
When I tried to report it to the police, they said, 'You're a healthcare worker – you are expected to be assaulted. Get used to it, there's nothing we can do about it.' So, tomorrow, if I get hit in the face, what is the likelihood that I will report it?"
Child is an emergency department (ED) nurse and doctoral student who is studying violence against nurses and its many ramifications. Little is being done about violence in many settings, a problem that is exacerbated by a lack of data, which in turn is caused by failure to report violent incidents when they occur.
Reporting Violence at Work
Nurses may fear that reporting violence will affect patient satisfaction scores, or that the hospital administration will retaliate.[6] Some don't know the hospital's reporting policy or believe they can only report visible physical injuries.
Other nurses avoid reporting violence because they believe that supervisors will question their competence, suspect that they somehow provoked the incident, or label them as troublemakers if they have no obvious physical injury.[7,8] When nurses do report incidents of abuse, more than 85% do so only verbally.[9]
For all these reasons, violence in healthcare settings may be grossly underestimated. As much as 70% of abuse toward nurses may be unreported.[10] Most nurses who are injured do not seek treatment for their injuries, another indicator of a degree of resignation on the part of victimized nurses.
The prevailing attitude that being abused by patients and visitors goes with the territory is an impediment to ending violence against nurses. Sadly, some nurses who hesitate to report abuse might have a point... Unbelievably, nurses are often reprimanded or fired if they defend themselves against violence.[12] One psychiatric nurse, who was raped on the unit, was fired afterward.
Is this a situation where hospitals take "customer care" or "customer service" too far? Or is blaming the victim a way of avoiding responsibility for and solving the problem, whatever it takes -- more staff, more security, more training -- solutions that cost money?
Child, coauthor of the article "Violence Against Women: The Phenomenon of Violence Against Nurses,"[13] doesn't buy the excuse that assaults against nurses are just an occupational hazard. "If violence is part of the job, then why isn't it included in basic nursing curricula?" asks Child. "Why isn't violence prevention included in hospital orientation? Nurses and students are routinely prepared for everything else that is 'part of the job.'"
"If you want to get accurate data, you have to have nurses, from the ground up, saying, 'No, this isn't part of the job. I shouldn't come to work for 12 hours and expect to be assaulted.' But you also have to have managers and professional nursing organizations say, 'You need to report this and I will support you.' It has to come from both directions."...
Child offers this advice to all nurses:
Don't be complacent about workplace violence or assume that it is just part of your job description.
Find out whether your department/hospital has a policy about workplace violence and how to report it. If not, ask your manager to create one.
Request regular training for workplace violence that is relevant to your department and patient population.
Report incidents of verbal, physical, or s*xual abuse, even if you don't think anything will be done.
Sometimes, these data will point to the need for more staff or other departmental changes. But without these data, nothing will change.
Managers and other administrators need to evaluate their own attitudes toward workplace violence and be aware of the underlying costs of violence to nurses, patient care, and the hospital.
They should make it less cumbersome for nurses to report incidents of violence and stop punishing the victims. All nurses should find out whether their professional organizations have taken a stand against workplace violence and, if not, encourage them to do so.
It's time for people to pull their heads out of the sand. Violence against nurses is a complex and persistent workplace threat. Intimidation, harassment, stalking, beatings, stabbings, shootings, and other forms of physical and verbal abuse continue to occur in our healthcare facilities, and nurses continue to be on the receiving end of these assaults. The consequences of such violence are huge and place the nursing profession in peril.
Acting on their own, nurses have little chance of influencing policies on workplace violence.[28] Although legislation has been passed in a few states, many more states have no legislation and leave their nurses unprotected. Nurses must take up the gauntlet, not to fend off attack but to deliver the message to administrators and elected officials that nurses must be protected from workplace violence; if they are not, it will be society's loss.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/727144...
If the answer to all of these questions is "no," consider yourself one of the lucky few nurses to have escaped verbal and physical abuse at the hands of patients, family members, or visitors in the course of your duties.
All in a Day's Work?
Of all the expectations that nurses have of their employers, feeling safe at work should be at the top of the list. If nurses don't feel safe, and if they believe that their employer tolerates violence, loss of trust will follow.
Nurses will be reluctant to report abuse because they are pessimistic about administration's response – managers won't care, they will blame the nurse, or they simply won't do anything about it. "The first time I was assaulted by a patient," explains Rebekah Howerton Child, RN, MSN, CEN, "I was spit in the face.
When I tried to report it to the police, they said, 'You're a healthcare worker – you are expected to be assaulted. Get used to it, there's nothing we can do about it.' So, tomorrow, if I get hit in the face, what is the likelihood that I will report it?"
Child is an emergency department (ED) nurse and doctoral student who is studying violence against nurses and its many ramifications. Little is being done about violence in many settings, a problem that is exacerbated by a lack of data, which in turn is caused by failure to report violent incidents when they occur.
Reporting Violence at Work
Nurses may fear that reporting violence will affect patient satisfaction scores, or that the hospital administration will retaliate.[6] Some don't know the hospital's reporting policy or believe they can only report visible physical injuries.
Other nurses avoid reporting violence because they believe that supervisors will question their competence, suspect that they somehow provoked the incident, or label them as troublemakers if they have no obvious physical injury.[7,8] When nurses do report incidents of abuse, more than 85% do so only verbally.[9]
For all these reasons, violence in healthcare settings may be grossly underestimated. As much as 70% of abuse toward nurses may be unreported.[10] Most nurses who are injured do not seek treatment for their injuries, another indicator of a degree of resignation on the part of victimized nurses.
The prevailing attitude that being abused by patients and visitors goes with the territory is an impediment to ending violence against nurses. Sadly, some nurses who hesitate to report abuse might have a point... Unbelievably, nurses are often reprimanded or fired if they defend themselves against violence.[12] One psychiatric nurse, who was raped on the unit, was fired afterward.
Is this a situation where hospitals take "customer care" or "customer service" too far? Or is blaming the victim a way of avoiding responsibility for and solving the problem, whatever it takes -- more staff, more security, more training -- solutions that cost money?
Child, coauthor of the article "Violence Against Women: The Phenomenon of Violence Against Nurses,"[13] doesn't buy the excuse that assaults against nurses are just an occupational hazard. "If violence is part of the job, then why isn't it included in basic nursing curricula?" asks Child. "Why isn't violence prevention included in hospital orientation? Nurses and students are routinely prepared for everything else that is 'part of the job.'"
"If you want to get accurate data, you have to have nurses, from the ground up, saying, 'No, this isn't part of the job. I shouldn't come to work for 12 hours and expect to be assaulted.' But you also have to have managers and professional nursing organizations say, 'You need to report this and I will support you.' It has to come from both directions."...
Child offers this advice to all nurses:
Don't be complacent about workplace violence or assume that it is just part of your job description.
Find out whether your department/hospital has a policy about workplace violence and how to report it. If not, ask your manager to create one.
Request regular training for workplace violence that is relevant to your department and patient population.
Report incidents of verbal, physical, or s*xual abuse, even if you don't think anything will be done.
Sometimes, these data will point to the need for more staff or other departmental changes. But without these data, nothing will change.
Managers and other administrators need to evaluate their own attitudes toward workplace violence and be aware of the underlying costs of violence to nurses, patient care, and the hospital.
They should make it less cumbersome for nurses to report incidents of violence and stop punishing the victims. All nurses should find out whether their professional organizations have taken a stand against workplace violence and, if not, encourage them to do so.
It's time for people to pull their heads out of the sand. Violence against nurses is a complex and persistent workplace threat. Intimidation, harassment, stalking, beatings, stabbings, shootings, and other forms of physical and verbal abuse continue to occur in our healthcare facilities, and nurses continue to be on the receiving end of these assaults. The consequences of such violence are huge and place the nursing profession in peril.
Acting on their own, nurses have little chance of influencing policies on workplace violence.[28] Although legislation has been passed in a few states, many more states have no legislation and leave their nurses unprotected. Nurses must take up the gauntlet, not to fend off attack but to deliver the message to administrators and elected officials that nurses must be protected from workplace violence; if they are not, it will be society's loss.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/727144...
WHAT SAY YOU.... if one bite me... can I request to have em sent to the psych ward...??