Healthcare Organizations Can Implement Strategies to Curb Workplace Violence

December 20, 2023 by Casey S. Kennedy Staff Writer

Oncology nurses are particularly vulnerable to the increasing violent incidents in the healthcare workplace, and it might be because of their specialty. “Oncology settings possess baseline patient and family stressors that may have been more pronounced during the pandemic,” researchers reported in (https://www.ons.org/cjon/27/5/understanding-nursing-workplace-violence-trends-safer-clinical-oncology-settings) the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, such as social isolation, inadequate resources, and health misinformation, among others.

Although nurses can follow de-escalation strategies (https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/10-ways-to-control-your-personal-safety-and-minimize-your-risk-for-workplace) to protect themselves, colleagues, and patients in a violent situation, truly addressing the issue requires an organizational approach. The authors advocated for (https://www.ons.org/cjon/27/5/understanding-nursing-workplace-violence-trends-safer-clinical-oncology-settings) healthcare institutions to implement strong organizational policies that include “fostering a workplace culture that encourages nurse reporting of [workplace violence], providing resources for victims, and investing in programs that promote practical skills and resources for workplace safety and patient de-escalation.” Specifically, they identified a need for:

“Institutions that have made these investments have seen improved nurse confidence and skills for working with challenging patients and reduced [workplace violence] incidents,” the authors concluded.

Learn more about workplace violence on the Oncology Nursing Podcast Episode 230: Violence in Health Care (https://www.ons.org/podcasts/episode-230-violence-health-care) or in ONS Voice’s feature (https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/violence-in-nursing) and perspective (https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/how-nurses-and-administrators-can-respond-to-the-prevalence-of-violence-in-health) articles. 


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