Debriefing should be a core part of any violence prevention and response plan, says Monica Cooke, BSN, MA, RNC, CPHQ, CPHRM, FASHRM, a behavioral risk management and quality improvement consultant with Quality Plus Solutions in Annapolis, MD.
It is typical for hospitals to fully investigate a major incident of violence, but not necessarily the more common instances of aggression and violence in the workplace, she notes.
Hospitals should, at a minimum, debrief anyone involved with or witnessing any act of violence, no matter how small, Cooke says. A deeper investigation and other action may be warranted in some cases.
“A crisis is a learning opportunity. Every incident must be debriefed or you’re letting that opportunity pass by,” Cooke says. “You step back and ask what just happened, what led to it, what could we have done to prevent it, what did we do right, why did other actions fail, and what should we do next time? You can’t be a high reliability organization if you don’t look at your defects and figure out why they’re happening, and aggression is a defect in healthcare.”
Debriefing should be a core part of any violence prevention and response plan.
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