Introduction
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) identifies the responsibilities of workplace parties in the incident of violence or harassment. Violence or harassment can come from anyone the employee comes into contact with. Workplace harassment is making abusive comments or interacting through unreasonable behavior against an employee. Workplace violence can be described as any statement or action that a worker could adequately perceive as a threat to use physical violence against the worker, which could result in physical harm (Ross et al., 2019). Globally, 17.9% of employees reported psychological violence and harassment in their careers, and 8.5% experienced physical violence (Otterbach et al., 2021). It is essential to address this topic to investigate the potential mechanism to prevent and reduce workplace violence and provide safety for employees across various professional spheres.
How the Topic Impacts Nursing Practice
Nursing professionals are the most vulnerable to workplace violence in the healthcare sector because they give direct patient support 24 hours a day. Workplace violence was reported by 88.9% of respondents, with 38% reporting verbal abuse, 25.4% reporting mobbing, 11% facing physical violence, 9.1% disclosing sexual harassment, and 5.4% stating racial discrimination (Table 1) (Bernardes et al., 2021). Additionally, it affects nurses’ physical and mental health, leading them to develop anxiety, depression, PTSD, burnout, and more. (Yang et al., 2018). Moreover, professional ethics and culture begin to suffer when nurses cannot rely on their colleagues and feel insecure in the workplace. This topic impacts my practice because, without the prevention plan, I can face the same problem as many other nurses.
Relevance
The topic is relevant in the modern healthcare sector for several reasons. Condoning violence supports the appearance of an internal culture of fear and prejudice in which wrongdoing goes unpunished, which worsens the performance of healthcare workers (Yang et al., 2018). Nurses suffering from low resilience or who are emotionally distraught may be subjected to repeated verbal abuse, compromising their evaluations of patient safety. Moreover, the issue leads to healthcare facilities continuously seeing a connection between increased workplace violence and a lack of hospital staff. In addition to the anxiety of returning to work, health professionals and nurses have reported experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms due to incidents of violence at their facilities (Ross et al., 2019).
Analyzing the research on workplace violence presented by Bernardes et al. (2021), it is evident that the issue is relevant due to the number of respondents facing workplace incidents of various types. Additionally, the study shows that women are more likely to suffer harassment than male respondents. Among the study participants, 15 female employees experienced verbal abuse, while five male respondents suffered the same issue (Table 2) (Bernardes et al., 2021). Similarly, mobbing was reported by 11 women nurses, while two men faced this problem (Bernardes et al., 2021). Thus, the issue must be addressed by evaluating different situations and types. Since the data was measured in 2018, the issue remains relevant to the current situation in the healthcare system.
Clinical Practice Integration
Nurse practitioners can deal with aggressive behaviors with education, cognitive training, management style, and organizational policies. The most significant content difference in creating well-designed workplace violence educational programs for healthcare workers was a lack of consideration of risk assessment and workplace violence policy. Simulation is intended to support activities in various simulated real-world clinical environments, such as role-play or immersive devices, to demonstrate procedures, make decisions, and think critically (Yosep et al., 2022). Approaches to reduce bullying’s impact on nursing staff must be carried out in partnership with other specialists. This necessitates collaboration and coordination among various parties, particularly health workers and state government.
Plan for Lobbying
Statements for lobbying must address the need to enforce a national requirement mandating employers in the health care and social services sectors to create and execute a detailed workplace violence prevention strategy. The online campaign across social media also aims to pass the legislation and raise public awareness of the seriousness and frequency of acts of violence against healthcare workers across the United States. The Emergency Nurses Association has been a representative in advocating for legislative implications for individuals who commit acts of violence in the workplace (Yosep et al., 2022). Nevertheless, in various states, no federal laws specifically reduce violence in healthcare workplaces. However, The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act prompts OSHA to release guidelines to develop a prevention plan (Yosep et al., 2022).
This government lobbying effort is critical because it will hold employers in health care and social services responsible for the security of their staff. Everyone has the right to be safe at work, and it involves healthcare facilities, clinics, and social service settings. Such a lobby confronts the rising trend head-on, providing citizens with long-needed safeguards and specific and compulsory safety regulations. These specifications include unit-specific evaluations and the implementation of prevention methods such as physical changes, employee participation in all plan stages, hands-on training, stringent record-keeping requirements, and protections for employees reporting workplace violence.
Conclusion
Workplace violence is a severe problem, especially in the healthcare environment. Studies show that the majority of respondents experienced harassment in the workplace. Female nurses are more vulnerable to violent acts, while the main types remain verbal abuse and mobbing. The issue presents a threat to nurse’s mental and physical health as well as the patient’s safety. Because violent incidents cannot be entirely avoided, it is critical to develop effective interventions to mitigate the adverse effects of violence. They include training programs, educational initiatives, new state legislative support, and organizational policy changes.
References
Bernardes M.L.G., Karino M.E., Martins J.T., Okubo C.V.C., Galdino M.J.Q., Moreira A.A.O. (2021). Workplace violence among nursing professionals. Revista Brasiliera de Medeciba do Trabalho,18(3). 250-257. Web.
Otterbach, S, Sousa-Poza, A, Zhang, X. (2021). Gender differences in perceived workplace harassment and gender egalitarianism: A comparative cross-national analysis. Business Ethics, Environment & Responsibility, 30. 392– 411. Web.
Ross, S., Naumann, P., Hinds-Jackson, D. V., & Stokes, L. (2019). Sexual harassment in nursing: Ethical considerations and recommendations. Online Journal Issues Nursing. 24. Web.
Yang, B. X., Stone, T. E., Petrini, M. A., & Morris, D. L. (2018). Incidence, type, related factors, and effect of workplace violence on mental health nurses: A cross-sectional survey. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 32(1). 31-38. Web.
Yosep, I.; Hikmat, R.; Mardhiyah, A. (2022) Types of nursing intervention to reduce impact of bullying and aggression on nurses in the workplace. Healthcare, 10. 1463. Web.