Part Five: Mitigating Workplace Violence for Healthcare Workers: Five-Part Series (ODW5020)-Mitigating Workplace Violence Part 5 Presentation

Mitigating Workplace Violence Part 5 Presentation

Pdf Summary

The document titled "Workplace Violence Prevention Series: Psychological Safety and Post Incident Staff Support" by Mike Dunning of The Healthcare Security Consulting Group outlines strategies to prevent workplace violence (WPV) and provide support to staff following incidents. The main objectives include building a WPV prevention program, conducting risk assessments, recognizing early signs of aggression, promoting de-escalation strategies, and leveraging technology for violence prevention and response.<br /><br />Psychological safety is emphasized as crucial in healthcare settings, where a culture allowing staff to voice concerns, report incidents, and acknowledge mistakes without fear is foundational. Ignoring staff trauma after a WPV incident can lead to emotional distress, physical injuries, decreased job satisfaction, increased turnover, absenteeism, and re-traumatization, affecting both the unit and the wider industry.<br /><br />Post-incident support involves immediate physical safety measures, emotional support through peer debriefings, access to clinicians, and a compassionate leadership response. Building a supportive culture involves normalizing incident reporting, forming peer support teams, training supervisors, and including psychological safety metrics in strategic planning.<br /><br />To meet expectations from bodies such as CMS, OSHA, and various accreditation standards, organizations should have a comprehensive WPV prevention plan, a dedicated overseer, a risk-assessing committee, and supportive leadership. Staff should be trained at all levels about WPV, its prevention, response, and reporting processes.<br /><br />Resources provided include guidelines from OSHA, The Joint Commission, professional associations like IAHSS and ASHRM, and toolkits from Cal/OSHA and CDC/NIOSH. Other resources include technology vendors offering duress systems and incident reporting platforms.

Keywords

workplace violence prevention

psychological safety

post-incident support

risk assessments

de-escalation strategies

healthcare settings

incident reporting

supportive leadership

OSHA guidelines

duress systems