Healthcare professionals undergo extreme work pressures on a daily basis. But, it’s not just about the work demands and high amounts of risks that they constantly endure when dealing with human lives. Their work is physically and emotionally challenging in every sense. Add to that workplace violence, and their role could even expose them to serious harm, putting their lives in danger at times.
Workplace violence in healthcare is nothing new and has been steadily rising. Many medical professionals experience harassment, although the majority of these incidents go unreported. According to one study, 70% of nurses and 47% of doctors in emergency care have experienced violence at work. These are unacceptable numbers by any measure, and they signal a critical issue that desperately needs solutions.
The many facets of workplace violence in healthcare
So, what usually constitutes workplace violence? The truth is, it’s a broad area that’s difficult to outline in specific terms. For example, medical workers could get yelled at with abusing language, threatened, and spat on. At times, these can escalate into physical violence, groping, and sexual assault.
Although many of these behaviors stem from patients themselves, sometimes, it’s the patient’s families or other medical workers who are responsible. These acts of abuse are not just limited to work premises either. What gets triggered in the workplace may even extend outside after work. After all, incidents of healthcare workers getting stalked, attacked outside hospitals, and receiving threatening calls at home are not unheard of.
And typically, it’s the frontline workers such as nurses and doctors who are frequently exposed to such harassment. However, by definition, anyone in a healthcare setting could experience them, too.
What are the repercussions?
The outcomes of violence could take many forms with both short- and long-term consequences.
From a medical professional’s perspective, it could cause severe mental distress in the long run. There’s only so much they can endure when they’re constantly exposed to abusive and stress-inducing behaviors. In extreme cases, their lives may even be in danger. Sometimes, their families may become victims, too.
And these experiences could affect their physical and mental health. The result is often a high level of absenteeism and attrition. Remember, traumatic experiences may even drive these professionals away from the healthcare sector. This could potentially cripple the industry’s ability to cater to ongoing demands for its essential services. In addition, it could drive up costs and leave the existing workforce under extensive pressure.
But, what’s preventing the healthcare sector from tackling these issues?
Many industry organizations are raising concerns about the growing threat of workplace violence. But what’s preventing them from effectively addressing this prevalent issue? One critical factor is low incident reporting levels. Many healthcare workers are still reluctant to come forward about harassment and abuse they encounter at work.
On one side, it’s normal for patients and their families to overreact and act out because of the emotional stress attached to physical and mental illnesses. Going through a sudden and severe injury or sickness could be debilitating in many cases. Even watching a loved one experiencing pain could be devastating for many people. As a result, patients and their families could often lash out, not with malicious intent, but rather out of desperation, confusion, and agony. And healthcare workers understand this emotional trauma and associated behavior. So, they might often empathize and tolerate any abuse that comes their way.
Evidently, identifying unacceptable behavior may not always be easy for healthcare workers, unlike in other professions. Deciding what they should put up with or get offended by is not always so straightforward. This ambiguity could prevent them from lodging a formal complaint with their employers.
At the same time, many healthcare organizations still lack adequate policies to tackle workplace violence. The general ambiguity surrounding this topic in terms of identifying incidents and taking action could also deter the medical workforce from coming forward. A lack of confidence in their employer’s willingness to take action and a fear of more aggravated retaliation by the abuser are common in these instances.
Preventing workplace violence in healthcare.
An effective campaign to tackle violence in the healthcare sector should focus on both awareness and prevention. Here are some critical steps to consider.
- Raise awareness among medical workers, employers, and the general public to steer conversations on personal safety and violence prevention.
- Set up fool-proof frameworks to guide unbiased action in both rectifying and preventing workplace abuse.
- Implement a zero-tolerance policy that encourages more professionals to come forward and raise their concerns in a safer environment without prejudice.
- Conduct staff training to help employees identify possible incidents of abuse and violence without compromising the quality of their service.
- Adopt security measures such as security staff, cameras, alarms, and protective gear to monitor work premises and tackle incidents before they escalate. These can even help deter individuals from abusive behavior.
- Set up patient identification processes to flag individuals with a history of violent behavior. It could allow organizations to warn employees, take adequate measures to prevent incidents, and ensure staff safety with better preparedness.
- Implement strict data security policies to protect personally identifiable information of healthcare workers. These are essential to prevent harassment and stalking outside the workplace and keep both employees and their loved ones safe from personal attacks.
- Educate medical workers on the importance of keeping personal data safe outside of work. For example, this can include responsible use of social media without compromising their privacy and safety.
- Lobby for stricter regulations to safeguard healthcare workers.
Ultimately, workplace violence is unacceptable in any type of environment or industry. But the growing number of incidents in healthcare should be an eye-opener for the sector and the government. It signals an impending crisis with potentially debilitating effects on a national level. So, urgent action is critical for the wellbeing of our healthcare workforce and the citizens who rely on their essential services.
