Promote Hospital Staff Safety with Publicity

Violence against healthcare workers is not breaking news for people who work in healthcare. For many of them – particularly emergency department staff – threats, cursing, screaming, and sometimes even physical assaults are symptomatic of a healthcare delivery system stretched to the breaking point.

As I have noted before, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that for every 10,000 hospital workers, eight workplace assaults resulted in missed work days. In the overall private sector, by contrast, only 1.7 workplace assaults resulted in missed work for every 10,000 workers.

These assaults on healthcare workers should never be considered routine, or “part of the job.” Nobody trying to make an honest living – especially a healer – should have to put up with abuse. And to their credit, growing numbers of hospitals and other healthcare organizations are adopting zero tolerance policies.

For the most part, however, the public does not understand the extent of the problem. It’s up to the healthcare sector to educate them. The word is getting out, slowly. The mainstream media is starting to pick up the issue, and every article or TV news segment dedicated to the topic will bring that much more public attention to the problem. With the public informed and on your side, good things will happen.

Smart hospital leaders are finding positive, proactive ways to generate publicity about violence against staff, and patients. It’s not difficult to do because hospital security is an important story that resonates with the public.

I was reminded of this recently when Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, touted its new violence prevention and de-escalation program for ED workers. Smart move, Vandy! There is really nothing revolutionary or trend-setting about such programs.

They are in dozens of hospitals already, and have been for years. However, the Vanderbilt program has generated a lot of news coverage for the hospital. TV and print media, supplied with a compelling angle (and most importantly for TV, a picture), wrote stories about the program, providing viewers and readers with a brief primer on the growing threat of violence in the healthcare setting.

For example, The Tennessean, one of the largest newspapers in the Volunteer State, described a patient who “jerks a metal vent out of a wall, pounds it into a crude shank and brandishes it threateningly. He’s not in a prison. He’s in a hospital emergency room.”

The Tennessean notes that the incident happened at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, but that the hospital “has no monopoly on ER violence. Workplace assaults and threats have risen to the point that Middle Tennessee hospitals are ramping up security measures and teaching ER workers de-escalation techniques. The increased focus on prevention comes after a national organization representing ER workers exposed the hidden scabs behind nurses’ uniforms.”

Of course, this is not good publicity in the traditional sense. Nobody wants their hospital to be described using words usually reserved for the crime blotter or a prison movie. It’s not the warm-and-fuzzy opening of a new maternity ward or a breakthrough, life-saving, high-tech gizmo. And be prepared for TV shots of scrubs-clad hospital employees practicing arm bars and headlocks. That is inevitable – TV needs pictures.

But here’s the rub: It works. By doing it this way, Vanderbilt has sent the message to the public that they are dealing with this undeniable and disturbing reality in a proactive and positive way. With an understanding of the problem, the public will sympathize and demand action to protect healthcare workers, who in every community are their friends and neighbors.

Sign up for a violence prevention program. There are several out there – just ask around. Find one that emphasizes risk assessment and de-escalation techniques. The cost of such a program will likely be made up in improved employee safety and morale, and by the free and positive publicity you will generate when you make public your proactive efforts.