CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A visit to the hospital might be one of the last places you’d expect to see violence, and hospital staff and patients aren’t immune.
“A few years ago, we actually had a back-to-back bomb threat,” said Stella McClain, the director of workforce health and wellbeing at Chesapeake Regional Healthcare. “One of the incidents, the same employee received that call.”
McClain said those moments happening within the Chesapeake Regional Healthcare system sparked this annual workplace violence prevention fair. The fair includes resources like de-escalation tactics and safety tips.
“Healthcare workers face a much higher risk of workplace violence than professionals in any other industry," said Julian Walker, the vice president of communications for Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association. "In fact, five times greater risk.”
That information comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data also shows healthcare workers accounted for 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses due to violence in 2018. The industry’s number of total workplace violence has grown since 2011.
In 2013, 80% of serious violent incidents reported in healthcare settings were caused by interactions with patients, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Despite the numbers, OSHA found workplace violence in healthcare environments often goes underreported. For example, caregivers feel a professional and ethical duty to “do no harm” to patients. Some will put their own safety and health at risk to help a patient, and many in healthcare professions consider violence to be “part of the job.”
Walker said federal data shows the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this violence. Violence can take a mental toll on staff and he said it impacts access to patient care.
“The security staff, the other clinical staff have to rush in to intervene," Walker said. "And what that does is it diverts resources that might otherwise go to patient care.”
Walker said it’s all about educating the public that this violence exists. He said this fair, along with the VHHA's ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign, draws attention to these experiences.