- Participants will gain an understanding of the prevalence of Workplace violence (WPV) in the healthcare setting.
- Participants will understand the importance of education to help prevent WPV in the healthcare center.
- Participants will discover effective education techniques in teaching staff basic principles of WPV including recognition, safety, reflective listening, verbal de-escalation, and self-advocacy.
- Participants will be introduced to the use of simulation as an effective technique for WPV education.
Workplace violence continues to rise in the healthcare settings. Research shows that healthcare employees are four times more likely to experience violence in the workplace than in any other sector. Over 20% of nurses report being assaulted, and surveys show that many incidences are underreported. In a 2015 position statement, the American Nurses Association indicated that “the nursing profession will no longer tolerate violence of any kind from any source”, but as a nursing profession how do we reach this goal?
It is known that education is necessary to prepare nurses with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to prevent and respond to situations involving workplace violence (WPV), but how can we make education effective in order to actually decrease the effects of WPV in the healthcare setting? By helping nurses to understand the urgency and importance of WPV training they will gain a desire to gain and develop the skills necessary to prevent violence in their workplace. Unlike traditional education techniques by using simple hands-on demonstrations and simulation, the knowledge gained can be transferred to the practice setting. After learning evidence-based strategies to prevent WPV, students will practice effective response techniques in a safe environment. By giving students the opportunity to work through case scenarios, recognize signs of workplace violence, and follow through with response. Debriefing of experiences will help students to reflect and deepen their understanding of the learnings.
As a result of this activity participants will be able to verbalize an understanding of WPV in the Healthcare setting, understand the influence they have in prevention, and describe effective education strategies to help nurses with WPV application in the clinical setting. This presentation will provide educational strategies that will not only increase knowledge and awareness of WPV, but will aid in the hands-on application and improve confidence of nurses in the clinical setting. Nurses will be inspired to no longer tolerate violence of any kind in healthcare giving them the knowledge, education, skills, and confidence to prevent and respond to WPV. It will help nurses understand the influence they can have to prevent WPV in their organizations, community, state, and nation.