Impact of hospital security programmes and workplace aggression on nurse perceptions of safety

Abstract

Managers must address workplace elements that affect nurse perceptions because this has an impact on quality and employee retention. They must also address factors that have an impact on the actual risk of violence because this study showed, for the first time, that these may differ from perceptions.

Healthcare employees’ work-related victimization and use of preventive measures

“…This finding contrasted Blando, O'Hagan, Casteel, Nocera, and Peek-Asa who found that psychiatric nurses were significantly less likely to be concerned about work-related victimization than emergency nurses [25] . One plausible explanation for this difference between the two findings may be because the current study included all employees within the two fields and was not exclusive to nurses who ordinarily have the most direct contact with patients.…”

“…Simulated training sessions where employees practice using their personal protective devices may further increase the use of personal protective devices while simultaneously potentially reducing the rate of victimization. Although all (n = 143) psychiatric nurses and 86% (n = 268) of the emergency nurses in Blando et al's study received violence prevention training, the specific training for personal protective devices was not known [25] .…”

“…A perceived lack of personal safety may be an antecedent to worrying about victimization. Blando et al found that emergency nurses felt unsafe significantly more often than mental health nurses (p < .001) [25] . They argued that this perception of safety was likely related to emergency nurses working in open, unsecured environments and providing care to patients with whom they did not have a relationship [25] .…”

“…Security measures have the potential to increase environmental safety and improve employee perceptions of personal safety while at work [25] . Security measures that should be considered by hospital administrators if not already in place are a quick response from security, adequate security equipment, and regular updates on work-related victimization [25] .…”

“…Security measures that should be considered by hospital administrators if not already in place are a quick response from security, adequate security equipment, and regular updates on work-related victimization [25] .…”