Workplace Violence: Nurses Step Up Efforts to Protect Against Attacks

[Jordan Barab]

Linked below is an article in today's NY Times about violence against health care workers. Most media attention to workplace violence focuses on so-called "worker-on-worker" assaults ("going postal"), although most workplace violence occurs in retail, health care and social services, and is patient-client-customer oriented, rather than disgruntled former employees.  Generally, these assaults only make the press when someone is killed (if then), but serious physical injuries are far more frequent, as well as serious psychological damage (PTSD, etc.) that is often unaddressed and doesn't generally wind up in the statistics.

 This is an issue, as the article notes, that is underreported and often underaddressed – especially by OSHA. During the Clinton Administration, we managed to get the agency to issue guidelines to address violence in health care and social service institutions, but efforts to get OSHA to actively enforce safer working conditions was less successful. OSHA also published guidelines addressing violence in late night retail stores. Some of the health care and social service unions (e.g. AFSCME, SEIU, AFT, Nurses, etc) have been addressing this issue for many years.

 Nurses Step Up Efforts to Protect Against Attacks

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/health/08nurses.html?ref=health

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Jordan Barab