Improving Safety Processes to Prevent Violence in Health Care Organizations

• 6/10/2010
• Author: Audrie Bretl Roelf
• Category: Benchmark Blog
• 9083 Views
• 0 Comments
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Health care organizations should be a place of healing, not violence, and The Joint Commission has issued a warning calling for process improvements to keep patients and staff safer. The newest Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert warns that health care organizations today are being confronted with steadily increasing rates of crime, including assault, rape and murder.

To improve safety in health care organizations, the Alert urges greater attention to the issue of violence and to controlling access to facilities to protect patients, staff and visitors. The Alert cautions that the actual number of violent incidents is significantly under-reported and advises organizations to mandate the reporting of all real or perceived threats.

To prevent violence in health care facilities, The Joint Commission suggests that facilities take a series of steps, including the following:

• Evaluate the facility’s risk for violence examining the campus, reviewing crime rates and surveying employees 
  about their perceptions of risk.
• Take extra security precautions in the emergency department, especially if the facility is in an area with a high 
   crime rate or gang activity. Precautions might include uniformed security guards, scanning people entering 
   the building for weapons, and inspecting bags.
• Conduct thorough background checks of prospective employees and staff.
• Report crime to law enforcement.

In addition to the specific recommendations contained in the Alert, The Joint Commission urges hospitals to comply with the requirements described in its accreditation standards to prevent violence. The standards require accredited health care facilities to have a security plan as well as conduct violence risk assessments, develop strategies to prevent violence and have a response plan when a violent episode occurs. The Joint Commission’s standards also are clear that patients have a right to be free from neglect, exploitation, and verbal, mental, physical and sexual abuse.  Have you seen incidences of violence increase in your health care organizations? What are some protocols your organizations have in place to deal with violence?