Nursing the E.R. Nurses

Nursing the E.R. Nurses According to the HealthPromoting Hospitals and Health ServicesInternational Conference held in Berlin this year,98 percent of emergency room nurses in the UnitesStates reported verbal harassment and 67 percentreported physical violence. While in Canada, 84percent of the nurses in the emergency departmentwitnessed verbal harassment once in every shift.While there are 90 percent of them claimed toexperience verbal abuse at least once a week. In

Australia, there are 70 percent of nurses whoexperience violence at least five times a week.Emergency department are experiencing violenceand it has been escalating year after year. Sohow are the hospitals coping and resolving thisconcern?To come up with solution regarding this problem,it is important to define emergency room violenceand differentiate it from other forms of violence.Emergency room violence is different since itinvolves patients, family, relatives and closefriends. These violent acts came from feelingsof frustrations, vulnerability and lack ofcontrol over health emergencies.Violence prevention training for hospital staffis one step in reducing the incidence of violencein hospital emergency rooms. Potentiallyviolence patients and visitors can be recognizedby the hospital staff by attending training in

violence prevention.Some preventive measures and procedures arealready being undertaken by the healthcareinstitutions to prevent this escalating violence.Some security measures include metal detectors atentrances, photo ID cards for staff, badges forvisitors, patient processing policies to lessenwaiting time, controlled access to hospitalbuildings, secure telephone communications,locked doors to emergency rooms, closed circuitTV monitoring and trained security guards.Nursing Solutions Now (NSN) offer some protectiontips to emergency department health care workers.They have the D.O.G.G.S. or Defusing of GrievanceGrants Safety. To use the D.O.G.G.S. method, itis important to understand the mindset of thepotentially violent person and that is bycommunication with the person. It is necessaryto practice active listening. Avoidingconfrontation is also one step to build trust and

therefore provide help. It is important to allowthe person to verbally vent out the emotionswithout comment or judgement. Getting asuggestion from the aggrieved party is essentialand the person 抯 suggestion might even bereasonable. To preserve the person 抯 dignity,move toward a win-win resolution.To further address these attacks and harassments,the Nurses Association in the Unites States ispromoting a bill (A6186/S3441) aimed atviolence against nurses. With this billA6186/S3441, any acts of assault that may causephysical injury to a registered nurse or licensedpractical nurse while on duty will face Class Cfelony charges. This same provision alreadyexists for assaults made against policemen,firemen, peace officers, and emergency medicaltechnicians. The bill was passed by the US StateSenate last April 2, 2008 and is currentlyawaiting the decision of the Assembly.

Meanwhile in Canada, the Canadian NursesAssociation (CNA) is exploring the effectivenessof their Criminal Code to address healthcareprofessionals experiencing violence. CANpromotes that the employers should enforcestrategies to prevent, identify and addressviolent behaviours, examine the root cause ofviolence and take steps to address them andprovide mandatory education and training tomanagement and staff.Different nursing organization could come up withdifferent ways or tips to avoid and preventemergency room violence. But it is alsoimportant thing is developing or making sure thatthere is a backbone or law supporting ouremergency nurses against possible violence intheir workplace. But the first step againstviolence is prevention.