Workplace violence and safety response / Tanya Parket

Healthcare workers, and in particular hospital workers, are at high risk for workplace violence. Yet many hospitals don't have safety protocols in place, and those that do often haven't examined protocol adherence or efficacy. At Mount Sinai Beth Israel (MSBI), an 856-bed, full-service tertiary teaching hospital in New York City hospital administrators recognized the need to develop a safety protocol. Based on this need, they developed the Safety Team Assessment Response code for nursing staff to reduce the incidence and severity of violent situations in the hospital. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration defines workplace violence as any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. MSBI is similar to any other large, urban healthcare facility and not exempt from the risk of workplace violence. Early in 2012, MSBI security staff informally reported that nurses didn't react appropriately to incidents of potential or actual violence.

Nursing