Violence In Nursing Workplace

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Violence in the Nursing Workplace
Violence in the nursing workplace is often ignored, but is a serious matter. The nursing workplace area is a challenging field, for not everyone is able or has the ability to treat people and take care of them to such a degree. Violence in the nursing workplace is often described by physical or verbal assault towards nurses. Nurses are the ones who go through so much violence from patients and their family members. Controlling the violence towards the nurses is complicated and is often done by passing laws in which the offender is charged. Violence towards nurses can often be done by aggression or physical assault, threatening behaviors and behavior that causes emotional or physical harm. Federal laws are now
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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) defines violence in the workplace as any physical assault, threatening behavior or verbal abuse occurring in the workplace. Even if there is no federal standard that requires workplace violence protections, some states have sought legislative solutions including mandatory establishment of a comprehensive prevention program for health care employers, as well as increased penalties for those convicted of assaults towards a nurse. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that over 2 million American workers are victims of workplace violence each year. Commonly, violence occurs at work, and refers to a broad spectrum of behaviors that result in a concern for personal safety. Advocacy strategies for nurses are offered to address workplace violence on several levels, such as legislative advocacy, workplace policy, and education. Others use similar wording such as violence or the threat of violence against workers that are acts of aggression or physical assault, threatening behaviors, behavior that causes emotional or physical harm. Many …show more content…
Usually patients disrespect and harm nurses verbally and physically, for they do not want to be treated or the patients families will not accept the reality of the situation they are going through. Approximately 25% of the nurses questioned in a survey done by The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), said that they had experienced physical violence greater than 20 times in the previous three years. Nearly 20% of the nurses reported encountering verbal abuse more than 200 times in that same time frame. Study responses indicated that frequent episodes of either physical violence and/or verbal abuse led to outcomes such as non-reporting due to fear of retaliation and fear of insufficient support from employers. The researchers concluded that one of the factors important to mitigating workplace violence in the Emergency Department is commitment to ensuring a safer workplace by hospital administrators, Emergency Department managers, and hospital