Leadership Commitment to the Hospital Violence Reduction Project
Sometimes in the hospitals we visit, nursing staff do not feel that they have the full support of the organisation in managing incidents of violence or aggression in their work — even though there is an active Hospital Violence Reduction Project in play.
This is underlined by situations reported weekly: Security Staff, Police Officers, Doctors, or Public Relations Officers stand by and are not seen to be assisting in situations which would seem to require their authority and input.
There is also often ambiguity about when — or if — an offender would be prosecuted for assaulting a member of the medical or security team.
What the Research Tells Us
The Journal of Emergency Nursing summarised the recommended position clearly:
Nursing staff must be supported by an organisational strategy emphasising the development of confident, high quality individuals who value themselves and are characterised as possessing a high self esteem. This broadens the discussion relating to how to maximise personal safety in the emergency department because the development of professional confidence coupled with the promotion of individual self esteem, plays a significant part in protecting staff from violence.
— International Emergency Nursing (2008) 16, 88–93
Public Commitment Makes the Difference
One of the key elements of a good Hospital Violence Reduction Project is a very public and consistent message: violence and aggression towards anyone at the hospital will not be tolerated.
The Emergency Nurses Association has found that zero-tolerance policies go a long way toward making the environment safer for health care workers. These policies anticipate aggressive behaviors and spell out appropriate responses, such as a verbal reprimand or removing the person from the premises.
— Zero Tolerance: Stopping Violence Against Nurses, National Safety Council USA
What Leaders Must Do
💡 Key takeaway: Staff need clarity on legal, employment, and post-incident support. They need explicit permission to engage in incidents and to make the hospital a safe and secure environment.
Hospital administrators should explore how to convey a clear message to all visitors and patients that the hospital is a safe and secure facility — and that clinical and security staff are empowered to make it so.
This message must be endorsed and embodied by senior management to have the greatest effect for the Hospital Violence Reduction Project.
Gerard O’Dea is a conflict management, personal safety and physical interventions training consultant. He is the training director for Dynamis, a specialist provider of personal safety and violence management programmes and the European Adviser for ‘Verbal Defense and Influence’, a global programme which addresses the spectrum of human conflict. www.dynamis.training