Urgent need for stronger protections against workplace violence

FigureIn less than one week, I have read three horrifying news articles about vicious and life-altering attacks on nurses. Feelings flood in on the vulnerability of nurses and other healthcare workers to violence and the holes in the fabric of our healthcare and legal systems that enable so many attacks to happen, including inadequate behavioral health and other necessary resources. I understand that vulnerability. Like so many nurses, I have been assaulted. In two cases, the patients were severely brain injured and not responsible for their actions; in the third case, the patient punched me after he did not get his preferred drugs. Thankfully, my injuries were minor, but their effects fueled a lasting passion for doing everything possible to protect nurses and other healthcare workers from harm. Health systems must employ a zero-tolerance approach to address workplace violence. That includes staff training on how to recognize danger signs in others that can escalate into violent acts and how to avoid being placed in vulnerable positions, such as not having a ready exit or staff available for backup. Measures such as controlled access doors, panic buttons, video monitoring, ample coverage by security officers, bullet-resistant glass in high-risk entrances like the emergency department, strategically placed metal detectors, and rapid response teams to intervene when situations escalate are essential. I have heard arguments against these measures over the years that ranged from expense to patient satisfaction concerns to not wishing “to ruin the therapeutic milieu.” What about creating the milieu that best supports healthcare personnel safety? Any episode of intentional violence that injures healthcare workers must be reported to the police and prosecuted to the full extent of the law with the backing of the employer. Laws also must be strengthened to make assaults against healthcare personnel felonies in all states. Finally, no healthcare worker who has been assaulted should be asked what they could have done differently. The blame game must stop. These individuals need care and support from their employer and peers on multiple levels. Experiencing an assault is an affront to the very humanity of healthcare professionals. Witnessing an assault or vicariously experiencing it through the media is also inherently traumatizing. We know that individual could have been any one of us. The nurses in these media accounts and the many others who are dealing with the mental and physical aftermath of being assaulted need our prayers for healing, but also our concerted efforts to stop this scourge. Until next time, LINDA LASKOWSKI-JONES, MS, APRN, ACNS-BC, CEN, NEA-BC, FAWM, FAAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, NURSING2025