Bristol Hospital hosted a conference in honor of national American Hospital Association’s Hospitals Against Violence Day, Friday, June 8.
The panel included Ellen A. Crowe and Carl J. Schiessel of the Connecticut Hospital Association; Jennifer J. Foss and Michelle E. Miranda of Bristol Hospital; Lt. Governor Nancy S. Wyman; John F. “Jack” Barry of the American Hospital Association; Police Chief Brian Gould of the Bristol Police Department; and Kurt Barwis, president of Bristol Hospital.
“Today is all about hospitals against violence,” said Barwis. “When we think about violence in the communities we serve, a lot of people talk about the violence that’s in the hospital, the assaults that happen in the hospital. But hospitals across this country are focused not only on the violence that happens within the four walls, but the violence that can occur in the communities, and they’re doing some really innovative and exciting things to go after that.”
Barwis touched on important steps in order to reduce the violence that is enacted upon hospital workers, be it physical, mental, or verbal violence.
One such step was echoed by State Representative Dr. William Petit; that a social change needs to happen. Barry agreed, saying help is needed from everyone, and Barwis said it needs to be a collaborative effort.
Miranda, director of inpatient services, and Foss, director of nursing operations, said they realized a change needed to be made by talking with their staff.
Miranda said that many hospital workers don’t report when acts of violence are committed against them, but that there is a noticeable difference, as verbal abuse can be just as emotionally and physically draining as physical abuse.
Foss and Miranda have worked on implementing procedures to reduce the frequency of violence, and to support their staff members afterwards should an act of violence occur. These best practices include support groups, offering training in the Crisis Prevention Institutes methods of deescalation, and encouraging staff to report all acts of violence, not only physical.
Miranda also said that the hospital is in the process of implementing a violent patient alert in patient’s electronic medical records, so that staff is aware of violent histories with specific patients.
Wyman discussed her own time working at a hospital in Brooklyn, N. Y., and the stress that befell herself and her colleagues as they worked to help save patients, as well as calm and soothe the families of those patients.
“It’s not that anybody gets hurt violently - physically - but mentally, and it’s something that will stay in your minds forever,” said Wyman. “...The stress that’s going on in this country today, the violence that’s going on in this country today, hits everybody; hits our students, hits out businesses, and of course, hits our hospitals. I think by looking at what’s going on here in the hospitals to start preventing any of these violence, and making sure that our staff is working well, that we have an opportunity to spread the word that violence is not the way to go, and what we should be looking for, you are going to make this a better state and a better country [sic].”
Crowe and Schiessl discussed a statewide initiative known as the Safer Hospital Initiative. The initiative has three main goals; to reduce violent incidents, to increase worker safety, and to pursue peer-to-peer support groups
“One thing I’m noticing is an absolute theme here - I think everybody is passionate about it, our hearts are in it, and I’ve had the fortune of serving this great city for 24 years now,” said Gould. “There’s just this belief that people in these types of professions are - it’s okay to put your hands on them, and commit violence - and that’s absolutely not the case.”
Gould said hospital workers take care of us and our families and loved ones, “we have a duty to take care of them”.
For more information regarding the Hospitals Against Violence initiative, visit the American Hospital Association website, www.aha.org/ahia/advancing-best-practices/hospitals-against-violence.