How to Prevent Workplace Violence (Podcast)

Healthcare professionals are five times more likely to suffer workplace violence than workers in other fields, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In January 2022, the Joint Commission initiated Workplace Violence Prevention Standards to address the issue. Many healthcare institutions, including Cleveland Clinic, began tackling the problem prior to that.

“We used to see workplace violence in behavioral health and in emergency departments, but the problem now is happening everywhere,” says Erica Shields, MBA, BSN, RN, NE-BC, associate chief nursing officer of Emergency Services and Behavioral Health at Cleveland Clinic. “And we need to make sure that our caregivers are equipped and have the skills to manage these patients, visitors and family members when these events happen.”

In this episode of Cleveland Clinic’s Nurse Essentials podcast, Shields and Tony Roetzel, deputy chief of Cleveland Clinic Police, delve into workplace violence and how to prevent it. They discuss:

• Three types of workplace violence – physical, verbal and environmental
• Factors contributing to the increase in workplace violence
• The importance of education, training and reporting
• Prevention strategies and de-escalation techniques
• Resources available to nurses and other healthcare professionals
• Advice for leaders on supporting caregivers who have experienced workplace violence

Click the podcast player above to listen to the episode now, or read on for a short edited excerpt. Check out more Nurse Essentials episodes at my.clevelandclinic.org/podcasts/nurse-essentials or wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast excerpt

Podcast host Carol Pehotsky, DNP, RN, NEA-BC: I'm hoping we can talk a little bit more about how we should be educating ourselves. What are some signs – whether I'm a nurse or somebody in protective services – things that you'd pick up on to say, "I need to intervene here. I need to do something different because we're escalating?"

Roetzel: One thing I've noticed about people who may be becoming escalated is they'll get shaky. And that's the adrenaline going through their body. It's starting to increase. Match that with someone starting to curse and just clearly getting visibly angry and they're starting to shake and there's adrenaline running through their body. They may be starting to pace. These are pretty clear signs that a healthcare worker may not notice because you're there to help them. But you have to recognize those signs early and try and get some help there before it can escalate to something dangerous.

Pehotsky: Anything else we should be looking for, Erica?

Shields: They start to pace. Their voice becomes louder. I think they become demanding at times because, again, that loss of control. And they're maybe trying to take back some control. So, those are the things that we tend to see and have some inkling that an event might happen.

I think the best thing in those situations is communication. You know, a lot of these events center around wait times. That increases people's anxiety and their stress level. So, how can we do a better job communicating what the delays are or possibly what the wait times are and increasing our communication to help deescalate those situations?