Workplace violence corporate policy for health care settings

Nonfatal assaults occur nearly four times more often in health care than in all private sector industries combined. Compounded by performance pressure, the health care workplace has become a pressure cooker for leaders and staff alike. Ideally, the workplace is free of violence, in terms of threats or actions, either verbal or physical. A comprehensive organizational violence prevention program begins with a zero tolerance for violence policy and is supported by a data collection mechanism to monitor violence, ongoing prevention initiatives, and a post-event support plan. Workplace violence monitoring tools typically capture the type, mode, and severity of the incident and, like safety monitoring tools, support the identification of trends for ongoing intervention and education. In the event of a severely violent event, the organizational response should encompass a variety of group and individual efforts to support and stabilize the staff and work environment immediately, and in the many months to follow.