AAOHN says workplace violence a major problem
The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) in Atlanta has issued a statement on workplace violence, calling it a major problem and an occupational health issue in which nurses can have significant impact.
AAOHN notes that workplace violence is the third-leading cause of occupational fatalities and the No. 1 cause of workplace fatalities in women, and it says that "employers must develop strategies to prevent, manage, and respond to incidents of workplace violence." Based on their knowledge of worker and work environment health and safety, occupational health nurses are "the ideal professional" to plan and implement these programs, the group says.
Huge emotional toll on society
On average, 20 workers die of work-related causes each week in the United States, according to the AAOHN. One out of six of these fatalities can be attributed to violence. In addition, an estimated 1 million workers — 18,000 per week — are victims of nonfatal workplace assaults each year.
"Besides the huge emotional toll that workplace violence takes on society, employers face negative publicity, increased costs, lost productivity, and decreased morale resulting from incidents of workplace violence," the AAOHN statement says. According to the Workplace Violence Research Institute, the cost of workplace violence is greater than $4.2 billion.
The AAOHN says occupational health nurses can help prevent workplace violence with these steps:
• developing and implementing policies and procedures;
• coordinating employee assistance programs;
• providing recommendations for environmental design strategies to prevent violent acts;
• conducting research on workplace violence, which can be used to reduce potential risk in the employer’s workplace.
"The nurse often is the first to know of an incident and plays a valuable role in preventing workplace violence and collecting data to assist in the development of additional prevention strategies," the statement says.
"The occupational health nurse also serves as an educator to employees, management, outside public, and stakeholders. The occupational health nurse is uniquely qualified to implement secondary prevention strategies for early recognition and prompt intervention," the statement continues. "By conducting a workplace risk assessment, the occupational health nurse, along with other members of the emergency response and management team, can intervene when an incident occurs to minimize the crisis at hand and make decisions about how to manage the situation and the persons involved."
The occupational health nurse also can direct strategies to minimize negative effects after an incident occurs, the group suggests. These include conducting post-incident analysis and providing or arranging psychological counseling and support for employees and their families following an incident.
"AAOHN encourages employers to implement comprehensive violence prevention programs, which include primary-, secondary-, and tertiary-prevention strategies. The occupational health nurse plays a valuable role in designing, managing, and implementing these programs."
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content