Are You Familiar With The Workplace Violence Reporting Process At Your Organization?
Published
It's day 2 of the #ENDNURSEABUSE challenge.
Would you know how to report a violent event at work? You have a 25% chance of experiencing nurse abuse at some point in your career, so it’s important to be prepared.
In an ideal world, every employer would have a workplace violence reporting process in place. But that’s not always the case. Today, find out what your company’s policy is. If you can’t find information, contact your human resources (HR) or occupational health department and ask.
There are ways to report workplace violence, even if your employer doesn’t have an official “process” in place. When a facility has a culture of safety then the reporting hierarchy is that you, the nurse, report to your immediate supervisor, head or director of nursing, Occupational Health, and then Human Resources. Some systems have an online reporting system so that incidents are tracked and an interdisciplinary safety committee reviews them. If your employer does not have an electronic reporting system then report to your supervisor as the first step, and continue until someone listens. See ANA's Reporting Incidents of Workplace Violence Issue Brief (2019) for more information. Remember, it is NOT part of your job to be abused or harassed!
Being proactive is key so that if you ever need to report a violent incident, you can do so quickly.
Download, read, and share the #EndNurseAbuse Resource Guide and commit to reporting all abuses that you encounter.
Share your experience with us in the challenge updates thread here, in our private Facebook group, or on Twitter, or Instagram. Tag us with #healthynurse.
Want to share this post? Use the social media links on the left side of your page to share it with a nurse and invite them to join this challenge here.
.
Missed Day 1? Catch up here. Join us on day 3.
Blog
Challenge Tips
04/05/2022 2:17pm CDT
Post a Comment or Question
Knowing what your policies and potential options are in place and available are definitely important & if needed I would urge anyone not to hesitate to escalate up the chain of command to make sure your reports are acknowledged and treated appropriately. That short video dismissing the nurse unfortunately is not uncommon.
A fellow colleague didn't get support from her hospital until she filed a police report and they stepped in to investigate the situation involving a patients harassment of her. On another occasion, two staff members were screaming at each other and shoving each other back & forth - they were shocked their “disagreement” was taken being taken so seriously … hard to comprehend by everyone else around them that felt so uncomfortable with the situation they called security & the supervisor to the unit to handle them.