Violence Within the Health Care Workplace

Janice Delgadillo

BUS400

Literature Review

Dr. Maria Checton

Violence within the Health Care Workplace

Workplace violence, as stated by the US Department of Labor, is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidations, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at an organization. Prior research has been done to conclude the reasons for why workplace violence occurs in the healthcare sector, some of which led to important law acts in legislation and contributions from international councils, associations, and the like.

In 1994, Title IX of The Federal Violent crime control & Law Enforcement Act was enacted which barred the manufacturing of 19 specific semi-automatic firearms and banned the possession of newly manufactured magazines. In 2003, The International Council of Nurses addressed the ever-growing issue of violence against health care workers and concluded that it is “an epidemic in all societies, including the developing world.” By addressing the issue at large, studies revealed that conditions of healthcare facilities can contribute to the creation of violence in an organization. In 2016, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration considered workplace standards for violence prevention should be set in order to decrease workplace violence incidences. They determined that nurses are the most affected and victimized sector of the health organization. They are the victims to most forms of assault that occur in hospitals, emergency departments, clinics, etc. and fail to report it.

There are countless contributing factors that play a part in the beginning of health care workplace violence. They can range from external factors and internal factors. Patients with undiagnosed mental health issues can lead to uncontrollable emotions that are considered violent. Visitors from a wide spectrum of persons surrounding the area, including those who need the treatment, unknown and highly unstable persons, and forensic prisoner patients; a person who has been found of unsound mind or permanently found unfit to be tried by the Mental Health Court. But this just doesn’t point to the patients, Poor management in the healthcare organization can also lead to instances of abuse. Staff shortages and long wait times are also contributing factors to the cause of workplace violence. Internally, many healthcare professionals feel an unwillingness to stigmatize or blame their perpetrators due to their illness or impairment. Externally, reductions in funding for mental health services create an influx of the number of ill patients with violent tendencies to use Emergency Departments rather than specialized facilities for treatment.

The very definition of workplace violence can be a little discerning as to what exactly workplace violence includes. Some terms of Organizational Violence are confusing to define and figure out what exactly they mean. Workplace Violence, as mentioned above, is any form of violence or threat against employees which can occur externally or internally from the workplace. It can range in acts of violence classified as threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide. Workplace bullying is considered to be in the same spectrum as workplace violence but constitutes different causes and effects. The Joint Commission identified workplace bullying as including verbal abuse, threats, nonverbal