Answering a Question

Violence in the workplace

                Over the years, there has been a major increase in the demand for Nurses. People will always get sick or injured and hospitals need nurses available to treat them. Some think nursing is an easy career to pursue, but it comes with much schooling and tough competition. In college many tough classes are required and the nursing program becomes harder and harder to get into every year, accepting only be best future nurses.  What most people don’t realize is that a hospital is not always the safest environment and that there are things that go on that most people are in fact shocked by. Many nurses experience violent patients, contact with sick patients, and much fatigue due to lack of sleep and many hours on the job.

                Many nurses have been victims of this violence in the workplace. In fact, nurses are more likely than any other healthcare professionals to be a victim of assault. This is because patients spend most time with the nurses, only seeing the doctor once or twice. The nurse is the one to give them medicine, care for them, and make sure they are alright. Nurses are aware ahead of time of the potential of danger in this field such as twisting and ankle or slipping, but never anything very severe. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 500,000 nurses are assaulted by violent patients each year. In Martinez, California for example, a patient faked a seizure and smashed a lamp into the head of his nurse, Cynthia Palomata, killing her. Another nurse, Kelly Mclean from New York was brutally attacked by a patient, kicked and punched until she was unconscious. The patient then grabbed the phone from the charge nurse who was calling for help, and used it to continue his assault. As crazy as it sounds, this type of violence happens very often.  But why would a patient act like that? Some nurses have reported that conditions have worsened in the last couple years due to the Great Recession and massive layoffs which resulted in many people losing their health care insurance coverage, mental healthcare, and jobs. Thus therefore making people more stressed out, desperate for help, and agitated when entering the hospital. But does this justify harming an innocent person?

                Not only do the violent patients make hospitals an unsafe environment, the many sick patients also does. Part of being a nurse comes with being in close contact with many patients who are suffering with injuries, illnesses such as the flu, an infection, diseases, and etc. For example, many nurses who have come in close contact with patients who are ill do in fact sometimes end up ill themselves. If a nurse becomes sick, other nurses around them may end up sick soon after as well. The fact that nurses are not allowed many personal days due to things such as being ill can cause much damage. If the nurses are sick, it can cause the patients to be sick sometimes worsening their state.  Another major reoccurring problem in hospitals more recently is the needles. Many nurses have found themselves being injured by the sharp needles, making it a workplace hazard. Many hospitals have called for acts requesting that all needles are safe to use along with the campaign “Safe Needles Saves Lives” helping to make people aware of the dangers of unsafe needles.  Although these are many risks involved with being a nurse, there are ways they can be managed and prevent them from continuing to happen.

                Lastly the fatigue it causes nurses to have can have an influence on the environment in the hospital. Being a nurse comes with many responsibilities, such as being available to work whenever it is needed and working long shifts up to as much as fourteen hours. This especially can be dangerous to nurses working the night shift and having to sleep during the day. This fatigue can have a toll on the nurse and their performance on the job, putting much stress on them. A nurse’s sleep is very precious, because if they do not get enough rest, a patient’s life can potentially be harmed which is why nurses should be given more days off to rest. Even though their jobs are important, they are only human and need as much sleep as everyone else. This fatigue can also make them less able to handle situations with aggressive patients, putting them at a greater risk of danger. Because of this, hospitals in places such as New York and Massachusetts have created a barrier against abuse and protect nurses who work night shifts and those who work alone and are short staffed.  These new laws are helping to create a better environment for nurses, and life on the job is improving.

                On the other hand, many might say that these acts of violence and hazards in the workplace are all part of the job description that comes with being a nurse and that if you cannot handle them you should purse a different career. A nurse must know how to handle situations with violent patients, maintaining calm to diffuse anger among a patient who may feel anxious or fearful to let he/she know they’re there for them.  Also nurses are taught how to restrain patients, sometimes having to tie them down to keep them from harming themselves and others around them.  When dealing with a sick patient, nurses wear gloves and masks, taking precautions to keep the patients illness from spreading. But even though a nurse is taught all of these ways to take care and handle a patient and that they should be aware of all of the risks, sometimes they’re put into situations where these methods are ineffective.  Sometimes things happen and they cannot be prevented, but no person should be put in harm no matter the situation.

                In conclusion, violence in the workplace is a rising problem found in hospitals worldwide. These violent acts are continuing to happen because the nurse is either afraid to report, knows nothing will be done, or may in some cases even feel they are to blame for the incident because of their own “weakness”. But this should not be a way for the person to get away with this. Many hospitals have prompted nursing associations such as NYSNA and ANA to issue calls for action to end workplace violence, holding vigils for the unfortunate ones who didn't make it. They believe nurses have the right to work in a healthy environment. If a nurse is injured there are many repercussions for the patient, evaluating their mental state, and possibly jail time. There has been a big increase of patients coming into hospitals that are on drugs, have gone without care, and many of them have come from prisons and have mental problems and are more prone to violence. By getting these patients the right care they need, and evaluating their mind state, this may help with this problem. These laws and associations coming together has helped to decrease the number of injuries due to violent patients,  states such as Alabama, Arizona, and North Carolina, are states that have enacted legislation to increase penalties for acts of workplace violence affecting nurses, hopefully this number increases to all states one days soon. This issue is one that most people are not aware of, but in time hopefully this violence in the workplace is stopped indefinitely, keeping nurses worldwide safe, making hospitals a better environment.