- The Joint Commission established an online resource center to prevent workplace violence in healthcare settings.
- The Workplace Violence Prevention Resources page on the Joint Commission website offers access to presentations, newsletter articles, research reports and blog posts detailing strategies for preventing workplace violence.
- The resource center was established as part of a partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The Joint Commission workplace violence resource was established in response to growing rates of violence in healthcare settings. Outside of law enforcement, healthcare is the most violent industry in the nation and healthcare workers face more non-lethal violence than employees in any other industry.
Workplace violence in healthcare settings could be even worse than statistics show. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found incidents of violence against providers are under reported. Providers often excuse violent behavior when they are under the influence of drugs and alcohol or who are otherwise in an altered state of mind.
Hospitals in particular face various challenges when it comes to preventing workplace violence. Several physicians working in hospitals told Healthcare Dive in the past about the difficulty of gauging a patient’s capacity for violence during triage and to screen for weapons.
There are seven states with laws requiring employers to run workplace violence prevention programs and 26 states with laws covering assaults on nurses, but no federal laws that specifically address workplace violence in healthcare settings. Establishing an online resource center is a small first step by the Joint Commission.
HENRY KOTULA 