Healthcare workers suffer some of the highest rates of workplace violence. A quick Google search will pull up countless stories about doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who have been victims of attack. Anyone who works in healthcare may be subjected to both physical and verbal attacks. While the range of atrocity of these violent acts varies, all are inexcusable (and not only are they inexcusable in healthcare, but also in any workplace). Even worse, some of these violent incidents are never reported.
While there are countless ways, including legislation and hospital policy, to continue to work towards a solution for this extremely complex issue, there might be something even simpler that could help all healthcare workers feel safer right now—better interprofessional relationships and support.
The focus of interprofessional education is to teach physicians, physician assistants, nurses, physical therapists, and anyone else who plays a role in patient care to work better in teams and collaborate more effectively. What if we took this relationship even further to include supporting one another in cases of workplace violence? I’m not saying that there isn’t already support for one another through these relationships; what I am saying, though, is that we should talk about it more. We should collectively be on the “same side” in these incidents, no matter how small they may seem. Violence against any member of the healthcare team should feel personal to everyone.
While healthcare is vastly changing and some lines between roles on the team are becoming more blurred, I believe that physicians should still stand up and be the leaders in this sometimes challenging-to-navigate issue. While physicians have many other tasks as leaders of the team, creating an environment where violence of any kind is not tolerated is essential.
It is important that all members of the team feel comfortable to share if something has happened to them and for them to know that they will be supported if they come forward regarding any issue. Imagine that a nurse in the ER is punched multiple times by a patient, but the next month someone else on the team is verbally abused by another patient. Does the person who suffered a verbal attack feel that this incident “merits enough weight” to be discussed or brought up as an issue? This person should feel that the incident is worthwhile to bring up, but in reality, it could feel completely irrelevant when compared to the nurse who was punched multiple times. This is why it is so important to create relationships and an environment within the team that is supportive and open to communication about violence against healthcare workers. Creating this sort of environment within a team is not a solution to these violent attacks, but it can make a person feel supported in coming forward to report an incident.
While I am advocating for more communication, support, and openness about violence against healthcare workers, I am not saying that some of these positive conversations and relationships do not already exist within healthcare teams because they most certainly do. However, I do think that it is important to bring additional attention to these somewhat simple ways in order to create a more supportive and safe work environment for everyone. Every healthcare worker plays an important role in the team, and they should feel that they are part of a team who cares for them, supports them, and feels personally affected if they suffer any type of violence in the workplace.
If you have comments or would like to discuss, please email me at madalyndnelson[at]email.arizona.edu
- Hackethal V. Workplace Violence Rampant in Healthcare. Medscape. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/86256. Published April 27, 2016. Accessed January 7, 2018.
- Violence Against Healthcare Workers. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/workplace/en. Accessed January 7, 2018.
Madalyn Nelson is part of the 2020 class at The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. She is an Arizona native and graduated from Xavier University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in biology. Madalyn has a passion for traveling and global health. To contact Madalyn, please email her at madalyndnelson[at]email.arizona.edu.