Violence on the rise at health care facilities
June 4, 2010 by Carol Katarsky
Filed under: Communication, Healthcare Legal & Compliance, Hospital Management, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Patient/Client Communication, Practice Management
Filed under: Communication, Healthcare Legal & Compliance, Hospital Management, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Patient/Client Communication, Practice Management
Hospitals and doctors’ offices are supposed to be places to heal — not to be attacked. But the Joint Commission warns that health care providers are seeing more violence at their facilities.
The most recent Sentinel Event Alert includes a reminder that homicide, rape and assault are routinely among the 10 most common serious events reported to the JC. Worse, it’s believed that those types of attacks are significantly under-reported.
The JC urges health care facilities to take several steps to reduce the risk of violence, including:
- Evaluating the risk of violence by reviewing crime rates and employees’ perception of risk
- Increasing security in the emergency department — especially for facilities in areas with high-crime rates or known gang activity
- Conducting more through background checks on employees, and
- Encouraging staffers to report all incidents, including perceived threats.
Read the full report here.
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