A personal perspective on workplace violence by Carrie White, RN
As someone who worked as a bedside nurse for many years, I believe the role of a Caregiver is nothing short of the most selfless professions a person can have. When performing this role, you truly do not know what you will face during each day at work. There is no prediction of what your day will entail, what patients you will encounter or even what time you will leave for the day. Only two things are for sure–you will care for others, and you will make a difference. It is a profession where you meet others where they are. It is humbling to see people in a time of anger, time of mourning or at the end of life. Other times, there are moments of excitement, healing and joy. Essentially, there is an extensive realm of feelings that can be experienced which is why the Caregiver must be emotionally flexible and intelligent enough to provide care in the most appropriate way.
Although the days where we see our patients heal, grow and improve are some of the most rewarding, those good days also come with the bad. Our patients, families and friends go through very difficult moments as well. Some can work through these emotions much better than others, but what we as Caregivers always do is provide support. We stand strong to help support our patients during these tough times. This may mean holding space, providing prayer or even just being a silent presence. These are truly the difficult moments that develop us as professionals and help provide us with the knowledge and experience to learn what each patient’s situation may need. Although we pray none of these situations will result in workplace violence, this is something that has occurred over the years when our patients and visitors are not able to process these emotions in a healthy way.
Workplace violence has become a major occupational hazard in our profession. Where do we draw the line? So many things have been normalized in our line of work and in many ways, an inappropriate version of what is considered normal has been created. This affects every single Caregiver in our organization. During my time as a nurse, I have been spat on, kicked, threatened, and stalked on social media platforms. The threats have ranged from patients telling me they would kill me to threatening a return to my unit with a bag full of guns. These moments have disrupted my sleep, caused me to feel unsafe and made me briefly reevaluate my decision to go into the field of nursing. This is something that a person with such a heart to serve others should never have to experience. The sad thing is, I didn’t report every single instance of workplace violence I listed above.
The practice of caring for others comes with great risk. One in four nurses have been assaulted (ANA, 2022). This may be from an outside patient or an internal colleague. Workplace violence is not only defined as physical, sexual or psychological abuse, but also includes threats of violence, harassment, intimidation, threatening, or disruptive behavior (ANA, 2022). It’s easy to feel as though there is a lack of respect for healthcare employees who have had to tolerate this behavior for many years. These situations happen daily and can escalate quickly. It is essential for Caregivers to speak up about workplace violence. The American Nurses Association (ANA) Nursing Code of Ethics promotes our same duty to care for the health and safety of others to be continued in the health and safety of ourselves (ANA, 2015). ANA Nursing Code of Ethics Provision 5.2 promotes the health, safety, and well-being of the Caregiver, which means advocating in our field to support prevention and a no tolerance stance against workplace violence (ANA, 2015).
What I am most proud to say is, Centra is doing something about this. Not just a little something, but a big implementation initiative to stop this vicious cycle of the inappropriately created “normalization” of these workplace violence events. As Caregivers, we deserve to be respected and treated well. Our working environment must be a safe space. With Centra’s new Workplace Violence Toolkit, resources are available 24/7 and the response is immediate. Our Caregivers will go through the steps of pausing, communicating, treating the injury, reporting and continuing with resource support after the event takes place. Prevention is occurring and our leaders are showing up to advocate for us, our practice and our safety, which is vital in order to stop workplace violence altogether.
This work is crucial to the longevity of our Caregivers and our organization. Workplace violence is on the rise and has increased in our own hospitals. As we take a stand against it, our community will recognize and support the need for intervention to be made. As Caregivers trying to do the right thing, there are moments when we are attacked in more ways than just obvious physical altercations. The threats and worries we face affect our ability to care for our patients properly. Now, as One Centra, we work towards taking care of not only our community but also taking care of our own people. So please, don’t give into the “new norm” of accepting threats. Take a stand, talk about it, and don’t allow it. Our community and colleagues need us.
References:
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses. American Nurses Publishing.
American Nurses Association. (2022). Incivility, Bullying, and Workplace Violence Prevention. Retrieved from American Nurses Association: End Nurse Abuse*American Nurses Association, (nursingworld.org) on 4/6/23.