In the United States, the healthcare industry tends to be the most regulated. People who operate any health care institutions are heavily guided by the law on how they should provide the services. The primary aim of the government laws and regulations is to ensure that the patients have received quality services and in this case no violence (Krug, Mercy, Dahlberg, and Zwi, 2002). Some legal, political and legislation factors have contributed to healthcare workplace violence in healthcare settings. In most cases, clients and patients have been noted to be the cause of violence in many healthcare settings. Some of the factors that may contribute to health care violence include; working with people who have a history of workplace violence, members of gangs, and people with a history of drug abuse and even relatives of clients. The risk of violence to the healthcare workers. Another factor contributing to violence is working in poorly designed facilities. This way people causing violence can easily escape or interfere with the violence to make them seem innocent. Lack of emergency communication has also resulted in violence. Even possession of firearms among other harmful objects by the patients. Another contributing factor is working in dangerous neighborhoods. An organization could also be the cause of the risks, for example when the waiting areas are overcrowded, there being unrestricted movements of patients in the hospital. Some people even perceive as if violence is tolerated and that victims will do nothing about it. All these factors are illegal, and some are caused by political influences and legislations (Lachman, 2014).
Different bodies are working towards a better healthcare industry. To achieve this, they must focus on reduction of violence in healthcare facilities. The Occupational Safety Health Association (OSHA) and the American Nurses Associations (ANA) are two known organizations against the violence in the workplace the two have different statement positions regarding violence in the healthcare industry. ANA recommends collaboration in creations non-violence programs which have their grounds from the code of ethics of nurses. ANA also participates in educative programs on prevention of violence in the workplace to the registered nurses working in the healthcare facilities. The nurses are taught on how to respond to violent situations at the workplace. ANA also recommends intervention in cases of witnessed violence. The association urges the nurses to intervene whenever they see violent actions taking place. The union has taught the nurses on the most appropriate measures to take in such situations (AnnMarie and Venella, 2013). OSHA, on the other hand, establish a workplace risk assessment in collaboration with the staff members. The association also created policies and other security programs that forbid the use of weapons in a healthcare setting. OSHA recommends and provides training on newly employed staff not to forget giving education and training to the team already working. This is in an attempt to prevent and resolute violence in the facilities. The association (OSHA) also provides training to security staff in areas known to be risky (Gilmore, 2006). This way they can respond to violence and act on it immediately.
To prevent and respond to violence, OSHA has developed some policies and programs. Various elements are useful in the development of a non-violent workplace. The association works towards reducing and eliminating risk violence in a workplace. Some of the segments in development of an efficient violence-free environment includes; keeping records and evaluating performance. Secondly, training the healthcare specialists on the risk avoidance measures. Prevention of hazards in the workplace. Analysis the worksites and establishments of a management committee and involving the employees in various aspects that promote nonviolence (Ditmer, 2010). A violence-free healthcare setting should ensure that they are have implemented the OSHA guidelines.
References
Krug, E. G., Mercy, J. A., Dahlberg, L. L., & Zwi, A. B. (2002). The world report on violence and health. The lancet, 360(9339), 1083-1088.
Lachman, V. D. (2014). Ethical issues in the disruptive behaviors of incivility, bullying, and horizontal/lateral violence. Medsurg nursing, 23(1), 56.
AnnMarie Papa, D. N. P., Jeanne Venella, D. N. P., & CEN, C. (2013). Workplace violence in health care: strategies for advocacy. Online journal of issues in nursing, 18(1), 101.
Gilmore, J. (2006). Violence in the workplace. Nephrology nursing journal, 33(3), 254.
Ditmer, D. (2010). A safe environment for nurses and patients: Halting horizontal violence. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 1(3), 9-14.
