Policymaking Essay: Workplace Violence in Healthcare
NR 517: Policy and Economics of Healthcare Delivery
Workplace Violence in Healthcare
Violence in the healthcare setting is evermore present in today’s society. Nurses are trained to provide high-quality care with compassion and empathy for the most vulnerable populations suffering from acute and chronic illnesses. Despite these efforts, healthcare workers face violence from patients and their family members at an alarming rate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) defines workplace violenceas verbal or physical abuse and threats directed toward persons at the worksite. The consequence of workplace violence can range from mental distress to physical harm and even death. According to the American Nurses Association (2019), one in four nurses experience assault and are four times more likely to be abused than workers in other industries. Although some healthcare organizations have enacted policies such as “Zero-tolerance” or “Anti-Workplace Violence,” little has been done at a federal level to protect healthcare workers from harm on the job. The nursing profession needs more robust policy guidelines and federal laws to identify, avert, and intercede against all forms of violence in the workplace.
Application of the Policy Process
The policymaking process is concomitant and consists of seven phases. The first phase involves identifying a problem. The problem identified in this essay is workplace violence against healthcare workers. There is a critical need for federal laws protecting healthcare workers against violence because they have the right to fulfill their job duties in a peaceful environment where violence is not accepted (Dameery & Mrayyan, 2018). Healthcare workers should not have to go to work in fear of physical violence and verbal threats (Vos, 2019). Previous analyses have shown that violence against nurses decreases their proficiency in providing optimum levels of patient-centered care (Fountain, 2019). The second phase entails analyzing the policy. To date, some states and institutions have enacted zero-tolerance and anti-workplace violence policies where threatening and violent behavior is not tolerated, and sanctions are opposed on anyone that violates these policies. However, no structured process or regulatory requirement exists to register occurrences of violence in the U.S. (American Nurses Association, 2019). Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should develop regulations to safeguard health care employees from workplace violence (American Nurses Association, 2019).
The third phase in the policymaking process involves strategy and policy development. For a policy to be implemented, an effective strategy must be put in place. A uniform zero-tolerance policy to address the issue of workplace violence in healthcare facilities should be initiated in all healthcare settings (American Nurses Association, 2019). In addition, an electronic database through which employees/employers can report incidents must be created by accrediting bodies, OSHA, and federal and state regulatory agencies to track cases and monitor the effectiveness of the proposed policy (American Nurses Association, 2019). The fourth phase of the policymaking process necessitates policy enactment. In order to enact a policy, legislative action or another form of authorization must be involved. Key stakeholders, the Board of Nursing, and healthcare providers must lobby to get the policy approved on a federal level. The fifth phase calls for policy implementation. Once the proposal is approved, zero-tolerance policies and corresponding protocols can be implemented as standard practice nationally. Harsher penalties will be put into law to deter people from violent behavior against healthcare workers, and the development of workplace violence prevention programs will be streamlined on an electronic database system to track cases and monitor the effectiveness of the legislation (American Nurses Association, 2019). The sixth phase involves stakeholder engagement and education. To keep the issue of workplace violence at the forefront, healthcare professionals and other stakeholders must be educated on identifying all forms of violence, having an adequate reporting system that is continuously briefed, and engaging in a collaborative approach to combat the negative behaviors (Vos, 2019). The last and final stage is the evaluation phase. Although this is an ongoing process, the evaluation phase measures the policy’s outcome and effect on healthcare delivery. Implementing federal laws to protect healthcare workers from violence would indicate the achievement of safer work environments, swift actions and prosecution against all who participate in workplace violence, and a decrease in incidences.
Nursing Contributions
Nurses can contribute to the policymaking process by getting involved at the organizational, community, state, national, and global levels (Porche, 2023). For the problem identification policymaking process for workplace violence, nurses can bring about change in the policy analysis process because, to date, there are no central repositories, structured processes, or regulatory requirements to register occurrences of violence in the U.S. (American Nurses Association, 2019). Advanced nurses can gather data about the frequent incidence of workplace violence, its negative effect on nurses performing their job duties, and its potential effect on consumers receiving inadequate care and petition the government and policymakers to develop new laws. Nurses have numerous experiences supporting the policy issue’s pertinence supported by scientific proof and professional background and can influence policymakers (Porche, 2023). In the strategy and policy development phase, nurses can play a vital role in adopting a universal zero-tolerance policy in all healthcare institutions to address the issue of workplace violence. Advanced nurses can lobby for harsher laws on workplace violence and for federal and state regulatory agencies to develop an electronic database through which employees/employers can report incidents to track cases and monitor the effectiveness of the zero-tolerance policy (American Nurses Association, 2019). Advanced nurses can assist in policy enactment by petitioning the legislators because they function as the direct composers of policy at the federal and state levels (Porche, 2023). Implementing the policy involves the nurse’s comprehensive planning, collaborating with stakeholders, and continuous assessment of both the strategy and the policy outcomes (Porche, 2023). Nurses can educate all stakeholders on the harmful effects of workplace violence and bring awareness to the community of the need for regulations to confront this issue. Nurses can contribute to the stakeholders and education phase by engaging community constituents and legislators in developing new laws to protect healthcare providers from harm at the hands of consumers. In the evaluation phase, the nurses’ role is to assess the proposed strategies’ effectiveness and address issues that may come about during the policy process. No workplace should endure violence, and state and federal laws should be created and included in all healthcare policies and procedures (American Nurses Association, 2019).
References
American Nurses Association. (2019). Issue brief reporting incidents of workplace violence.
https://www. nursingworld.org /~495349/globalassets/docs/ana/ ethics/endabuse-issuebrief-final.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). The National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH): Occupational violence.
Dameery, K. A., & Mrayyan, M. T. (2018). Work place violence: A “zero tolerance” policy brief. Euromediterranean Biomedical Journal, 13(16), 78–79.
Fountain, D. M. (2020). Strengthening workplace violence prevention. The Pelican News, 75(4),
19.
Porche, D. J. (2023). Health policy: Application for nurses and other healthcare professionals
(3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Vos, J. (2019). How can we feel safe at work. The North Dakota Nurse, 88(4),10.
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