Photo Credit: Aaron Amat

 As hospitals and clinics grapple with rising threats such as gun violence, the need to insure physician safety has become a critical issue.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the many challenges healthcare workers face: breakouts of infectious disease, high stress levels, emotionally charged situations, physical exhaustion, and burnout. The pandemic also exacerbated workplace safety concerns.

Violence against healthcare workers has been a problem for years. Even prepandemic, it rose 60% from 2011 to 2018, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today, healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience violence in the workplace than other working professionals. How can healthcare workers heal patients when they are worried about their safety? The answer is that physicians cannot and must be protected.

Healthcare Violence

Violence in healthcare settings occurs for many reasons. When placed in high stress, life-or-death situations, patients or family members – even those with the best intentions – can take concerns and frustrations out on the clinicians and care teams. Healthcare environments, such as the emergency room and intensive care units, bring together people from all walks of life facing grief, loss, political and social issues, and even discrimination. Verbal and physical abuse makes it challenging for doctors, nurses, and other clinicians to provide high-quality care. Moreover, such incidents contribute to stress and burnout of physicians and healthcare staff, which, in turn, can contribute to a higher risk for medical errors and patient infections, further eroding the public’s trust in the healthcare system.

Every type of leader throughout each hospital and health system is dutybound to contend with the rising levels of violence because each brings a different perspective based on their position. However, among the many types of clinicians and administrative leaders in a hospital setting, physician leaders are uniquely positioned to understand and address potentially violent situations before they escalate. This requires them to be proactive and think continually about strategies, tools, and implementation plans.

Strategies to Protect Healthcare Workers

Working with hospital administrators, clinicians, and nursing staff to develop training, intervention protocols, and procedures to ensure all parties are adequately prepared can help hospital workers recognize the warning signs of violence and equip them to take preventive measures.

Other strategies include obvious violence deterrents such as metal detectors at entrances to emergency departments, limiting access to specific departments for designated people, marked mobile patrol vehicles outside of medical center buildings, and surveillance cameras throughout facilities that can provide security alerts in real-time and enable quick responses.

As the United States continues to grapple with gun violence, hospitals and health systems must address this issue head-on. Kaiser Permanente is working to reduce gun violence through a center investing in equitable gun violence research, public education initiatives, meaningful collaboration with violence prevention and intervention organizations, and community-led solutions to understand the short and long-term effects of this public health crisis.

The pandemic taught physician leaders that employee assistance programs can make an enormous difference in supporting physical and mental health in stressful and emotionally charged environments. The same can be said when dealing with situations involving violence. Tools that support self-care, such as trauma and peer counseling services, are vital.

Just as physician leaders must consider measures to make hospitals and health systems less vulnerable to violence, so must every other type of leader throughout each hospital and health system. All leaders must work with accreditation bodies and the government to advance policies that keep healthcare workers safe.

Physicians Need Safety

If physician leaders do not work with others to take bold actions to keep their colleagues safe at work, the cycle of violence will prevent patients from receiving the focus and care they deserve.

Violence is never acceptable at home, work, or school. The same is true at thousands of hospitals and health systems all over the country, which work tirelessly to heal community members in need. Physician leaders can play a powerful role in creating, maintaining, and advocating for processes and policies that ensure a culture of safety within healthcare facilities and are community anchors.

The steps physician leaders take to reduce violence will likely reverberate far beyond the walls of their medical facilities to improve the health and safety of local and national communities.