Preventing Workplace Violence in Healthcare Settings Course Overview
Healthcare and social service workers experience more workplace assaults than any other industry. Healthcare workers face a five times greater risk of serious workplace violence injuries compared to workers in other industries. Violence against healthcare workers includes physical assaults, verbal threats, intimidation, and aggressive behavior from patients, family members, and visitors. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that healthcare workers account for nearly 75% of all workplace assaults and violent acts, with emergency departments, psychiatric units, geriatric care facilities, and waiting rooms representing the highest-risk environments.
This course addresses workplace violence in healthcare settings and provides evidence-based strategies to prevent and minimize threats while giving practical guidance on responding to violent incidents should they occur. Employees learn to define workplace violence and identify its four types, recognize risk factors and environmental conditions that increase violence potential, identify warning signs and behavioral escalation patterns, and apply prevention and de-escalation techniques to defuse potentially violent situations before they escalate to physical confrontation.
Preventing Workplace Violence in Healthcare Settings Course Content
Lesson 1: Introduction and Objectives
Scope of workplace violence in healthcare and social services, statistics on healthcare worker assaults, consequences of workplace violence, OSHA’s role in workplace violence prevention, course objectives, and importance of comprehensive violence prevention programs
Lesson 2: Workplace Violence Risk Factors
Four types of workplace violence, Type II as most common in healthcare, risk factors in healthcare settings, working alone or in small numbers, access to drugs and pharmaceuticals
Lesson 3: Risk Factors
High-risk patient populations, high-risk situations, environmental risk factors, gang activity and drug-seeking behavior, domestic violence situations extending into workplace
Lesson 4: Warning Signs
Behavioral escalation continuum, verbal indicators, physical indicators, facial expressions, recognizing potential for violence before physical aggression occurs, cultural considerations in interpreting behavior
Lesson 5: Prevention and De-escalation
Hierarchy of controls, environmental modifications, administrative controls, training in de-escalation techniques, de-escalation strategies, when to disengage and seek help, post-incident procedures
