Increasing Protections for Health Care Workers
What You Need to Know:
Violence against health care workers continues to rise, with assaults against those in the profession reaching an all-time high in 2021, according to the most recent survey from the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) Foundation. Studies show health care workers are five times more likely to be injured than other workers, and other research suggests a nurse is assaulted every 30 minutes on average.
This startling trend is causing experienced staff to leave the field, and it is deterring future workers from pursuing a health care career at a time when Colorado is projected to be short 10,000 nurses and 54,000 health care ancillary staff members by 2026. Should this projection prove to be accurate, Colorado will be among the five states with the worst shortages of registered nurses.
Unfortunately, the aggression that health care workers endure takes many forms. Verbal assault, intimidation, and harassment is so common that it has created a perception that violence is “part of the job” for health care workers. This is deeply concerning for a workforce dedicated to creating an environment of comfort and healing for all patients.
Health care workers deserve a safe place to deliver care.
How Hospitals Are Addressing Violence:
The safety of their patients and staff is the highest priority for every Colorado hospital. All hospitals have violence prevention programs and are required to have worker training programs as a condition of their accreditation. Safety efforts underway include:
- Alarms and monitors
- Security screening and cameras
- Security presence and rounding
- Restricted access to certain areas
- Signage
- Huddles and safety drills
- Peer support and debriefing
- Easy incident reporting
- Paid time off to file appropriate charges
Hospitals are working diligently to address the rise in violence against health care workers. All hospitals have violence prevention programs and are required to have worker training programs as a condition of accreditation. The implementation of alarms and monitors, security screening and cameras, trained security personnel, restricted access areas, signage, incident reporting tools, de-escalation training, and paid time off to file appropriate charges are just some examples of how hospitals are mitigating violence.
Hospitals continually adopt strategies to address the concerning rise of physical and verbal assault against staff, but they cannot solve the problem alone. That’s why CHA is engaged in a stakeholder process to determine how legislation could best support the need to address this issue. Patients deserve a safe place to receive care, and health care workers deserve a safe place to deliver it. It is time for a collaborative approach that ensures those who show up every day to care for Coloradans are protected from violence.
CHA Contact: Joshua Ewing, CHA vice president of government affairs | [email protected]
- What Can We Do as a Society to Minimize Violent Behavior in Healthcare?
- Addressing Violence in Colorado Hospitals
- #CultureofCARE campaign
- Workplace Violence Prevention Communications Toolkit
- #CultureofCARE PSA (Feb. 6, 2023)
- #CultureofCARE PSA (Feb. 24, 2023)
- 2022 Healthcare Crime Survey
- Workplace violence in healthcare settings: The risk factors, implications and collaborative preventive measures
- 2022 statistics on healthcare workplace violence
- US healthcare labor market whitepaper
- 92% of healthcare workers experienced workplace violence in April 2022
