The American Hospital Association reports that violence in the health care system has significantly increased over the past decade, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University of New Mexico Hospital created a Workplace Violence Program three years ago to address the issue. Since then officials say it has raised awareness of the problem and is beginning to change the workplace culture.
The program is a collaborative effort involving hospital staff and leadership, hospital security, and UNM Police Department when it comes to hospital workers experiencing violence.
Adelia Perea and Katilin Koch are nurses at UNMH and both have experienced violence in their careers. Perea is an inpatient unit director for the 5-South Neuroscience Progressive Care Unit, and Koch is unit director of the Trauma Surgical Burn Intensive Care Unit, They say health care has traditionally been a culture where both verbal assaults are considered just part of the job.
“We see this [workplace violence] so frequently because we have a lot of repeat offenders. We have people who assault or batter, so they are physically using their hands, they’re biting, they’re spitting. They’re physically battering health care staff everyday, like multiple times a day,” said Koch.
However, Koch added that staff also realize that there are medical conditions that cause people to be aggressive and they all do their best to take that into account when treating a patient appropriately for that, but their aim is to decrease incidents with people whose violence is their baseline behavior.
Pera and Koch are co-chairs of the Workplace Violence Program Subcommittee since its creation three years ago.
Perea said she has been afraid to go to work when a patient who assaulted her was still in the hospital and was assigned to her. Years ago she had communicated that she was apprehensive about taking care of such a violent patient, but was told to suck it up and do it anyway.
“It’s that human factor, you know, we’re afraid. So we do everything that we can to the best of our ability while we’re in the room, but there’s still that underlying fear,” said Perea.
She and Koch said that this impacts care because health care workers want to build positive relationships with patients.
“That puts a psychological depressant on staff too because they are in this profession to help people,” Koch said. “They want to go above and beyond. And they can’t. And then they feel bad about it, and they’re scared, and then they feel guilty that they’re scared. It’s complicated and it’s difficult. It’s really emotionally difficult on the staff.”
Koch said that through the program they recognized there were issues with the reporting process, so they created what’s called the Assault Alert System. This allows staff to report violent patients through the hospital's secure messaging app. Once that alert goes through, staff on that patient’s floor are notified in the patient’s chart and even the door is marked to warn staff members. But this alert also reaches the hospital’s chiefs.
“It has increased reporting significantly and it’s really starting to change the culture in our hospital,” Koch said.” This is not okay and we need to report it.”
Under state law, it is a misdemeanor to assault a health care worker. Aggravated assault against a health care worker is a third degree felony, and battery on a health care worker is a fourth degree felony.
Koch said because of increased reporting, hospital officials have been able to meet with the District Attorney’s office to sort through barriers and now a few cases have been prosecuted.
UNMH Security employs 115 officers who monitor more than 2,000 cameras around the hospital, patrol the hallways, respond to duress alarms, detect weapons, and perform infant protection.
Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
