Are You Doing Enough to Protect Your Clinicians? The Data Suggest ‘Probably Not’

Envision four actual nurses who work in your urgent care operation. You probably picture them smiling, or engaged in their jobs and providing care to patients. Now picture one of them being physically or verbally assaulted in the workplace—YOUR workplace. New data from the American Nurses Association suggest that’s a very real, and quantified, likelihood; workplace violence is so common that one out of four nurses acknowledges they’ve been the victim of assault of one kind or another while they’re working. Another piece of data, as cited in a report by Fox 4 Kansas City, reveals that the majority (over 70%) of workplace assaults between 2011 and 2013 happened in healthcare and social service settings. Finally, a study by the Occupational Health Safety Network found nurses and nursing assistants are the most likely to be injured in healthcare workplace assaults. Sometimes the perpetrator is a coworker or superior, but often it’s a patient or a patient’s family member. The Fox 4 story suggests the opioid crisis, behavioral health issues, and clinician shortage (making for a higher patient-to-provider ratio) all increase the risk. Congress is looking at creating legislation that would require hospitals to formulate antiviolence policies, but this is a problem in urgent care, as well. JUCM has published numerous articles reflecting the urgent care environment. You can read Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Urgent Care Workplace and Does Your Urgent Care Need A Chaperone Policy? in our archive.