HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY NEWS - continued Western Pennsylvania hospitals constantly aware of threat of violence
Emergency rooms — jammed with people who aren't feeling well or in control of their faculties — provide the perfect storm for violence. “Sometimes it's ... a mental health patient,” and “Sometimes it's ... someone who's been drunk or has taken drugs.” These types of behavioral health cases are on the rise, and finding beds for such patients can be difficult. In 2011, there were 5.1 million drug-related emergency room visits, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
ER nurses surveyed during the past four years by the national Emergency Nurses Association, half of whom said they had been physically or verbally abused at work during the past week. Of that, about 12 percent suffered physical abuse, while about 42 percent suffered verbal abuse, said Lisa Wolf, director of the group's Institute for Emergency Nursing Research.
In Pennsylvania, such assaults are a felony aggravated assault charge punishable by three to 12 months in jail for those with no prior record, and 27 to 40 months for repeat offenders, according to attorney Tim Andrews, chairman of the Westmoreland Bar Associa- tion's criminal law committee.
Hospitals have taken steps to protect their employees, according to officials throughout the region. Excela nurses participate in “crisis prevention intervention” training, hospital spokeswoman Robin Jennings said. Nurses learn about blocking punches, releasing bites and escaping when a patient grabs a worker's hair, Thomas said.
Read More Your Enterprise Mobile Duress Cheat Sheet: Protecting Your People
While it is impossible to entirely eliminate the possibility of violence in the workplace, there are measures that can greatly reduce the risk. Of those measures, studies have found enterprise mobile duress (EMD) systems to be the most effective. In fact, after surveying the complete range of security options available to emergency departments, the Institute for Emergency Nursing Research concluded that, “Only one [environmental control measure] was significantly associated with lower odds of physical violence – panic button/silent alarm.”
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WORKPLACE VIOLENCE NEWS - continued Rates of Workplace Violence Higher For Government Employees
Government employees experienced a rate of nonfatal workplace violence that was more than three times the rate for private- sector employees during 2011 according to the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS. Local, county, state and federal government employees experienced 18.0 nonfatal violent victimizations in the workplace per 1,000 employees age 16 or older, compared to 5.2 nonfatal violent victimizations per 1,000 private-sector employees.
Excluding law enforcement and security employees, the 2011 rate of workplace violence against government employees was still higher than that against private-sector employees. Government employees reported 8.7 violent victimizations per 1,000 employees, compared to 4.7 violent victimizations per 1,000 employees in the private sector.
Serious violent crime (rape, sexual assault, robbery or aggravated assault) accounted for a larger percentage of workplace violence against private-sector employees (25 percent) than government employees (15 percent) from 2002 to 2011. However, government employees experienced three times more simple assault than those in the private sector.
About 1 in 5 victims of workplace homicide was a government employee in 2011. During that year, the private sector experienced 367 homicides in the workplace, compared to 90 homicides for government employees.
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