Focus on Preventing Sexual Harassment Across Urgent Care, Not Investigating Case-by-Case

Sexual harassment is a “chronic debilitating disease” in healthcare settings—and it needs to be treated as such, according to a pair of Perspective articles in the New England Journal of Medicine. As one of them points out, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine issued a report stating that up to 50% of female medical students will experience some form of sexual harassment before they even get out of med school. The morality (or immorality) of allowing it to continue without fighting back is beyond discussion. However, as the terms “time’s up” and “#MeToo” become more engrained in our collective vernacular, it’s likely that severe consequences await organizations that do nothing to prevent future concerns for all. Step 1: Stop chasing complaints and start getting ahead of changing the culture in your urgent care center (even if there’s never been a complaint). Collectively, the authors recommend that management in healthcare settings focus on preventive measures that are “routine and system focused,” such as making diversity, inclusion, and respect cornerstones of your workplace culture. This is especially important, they say, in organizations where there are few women in positions of authority. (JUCM has already taken a proactive approach to this discussion by publishing an article called Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Urgent Care Workplace; it’s available in our archives.)