New Sentinel Event Alert on Preventing Violence in Health Care

• 6/18/2010
• Author: Kristine Miller
• Category: EC News Blog
• 9038 Views
• 0 Comments
• 

You know the facts. Violence doesn’t stay in the streets anymore. All too often it walks right into the health care facility. Or already lives there.

Aware of this, The Joint Commission has just issued Sentinel Event Alert, issue 45, "Preventing Violence in the Health Care Setting."

Violence and crime represent a serious security threat to both patients and staff, and security can be a challenge because many organizations, such as hospitals, must be open to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The problem of violence can take many forms--one patient assaulting another, visitors attacking patients or staff, patients lashing out at staff, or staff assailing or abusing patients. The new Alert discusses the roots of this problem and the ways in which organizations can present and address it.

You’ll find features in EC News on preventing violence in health care, including the following recent articles:

"The Violence Tracer: A Behavioral Health Care Requirement That Can Also Benefit Other Settings" (March 2010)

"Preventing Violence in the Emergency Department" (October 2009)

"Preventing Workplace Violence: Tips for Safety" (June 2008)

EC News is committed to providing you more help and information on this topic in the future. Watch for it.