No one wants to wait in the emergency room, but lately it’s become more dangerous for medical professionals. One article by Politico Magazine highlights opioids, gang violence, rising healthcare costs, as well as mental illness as issues that have led to this surge in emergency room healthcare violence. What’s more, OSHA has identified the healthcare field as the highest risk for occupation-related violence among all others combined.
Politico cites several examples of healthcare violence including nurses being bitten and even strangled by patients. According to the article, the rate of RN attacks has doubled within a recent 8 year period. Some blame the overprescription and abuse of narcotics such as opioids. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released a statement (later revised March 2018) specifically blaming the rise of opioid abuse on overprescription by medical providers, misuse, and the rise of synthetic opioids. However, one VICE News article asserts that the opioid epidemic is one of the least violent epidemics unlike that of crack or heroin.
In addition, these professionals have been subject to more verbal abuse than in previous years according to Politico. Additionally the emergency nursing association states that:
“Violence in emergency departments has reached epidemic levels and emergency nurses are particularly vulnerable. In fact, the healthcare industry leads all other sectors in the incidence of nonfatal workplace assaults, and the emergency department is a particularly vulnerable setting. It’s currently a felony to assault an emergency nurse in 31 states, and we’re working hard to make it a felony in all 50 states.”
Underreporting also continues to be an issue in the medical and healthcare field. Providers fear that their patients may suffer or they may face flack from their peers for pursuing legal action against a patient. California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) tends to be the most progressive when it comes to embracing changes to help workers. In April of 2018, federal OSHA guidelines for avoiding healthcare violence were upgraded for California, requiring a more formal approach to healthcare violence policies and incident documentation.
All things considered, hopefully Cal/OSHA is moving in the right direction to better protect employees and equip health institutions to be more prepared for the violence risks associated with healthcare.
If you would like to learn more about healthcare violence or risk mitigation, please check out what courses we offer at AMC. Furthermore, we have solutions to make your practice safe for employees and patients. Find a compliance solution today!
