What Can Be Done to Protect Nurses from Workplace Violence?

By Stacey Miller, advanceweb.com

Last week, a patient pulled out a gun on a hospital unit and shot a nurse at least three times.
It happened March 2 at Danbury Hospital, Danbury, CT. The nurse shot was Andrew Hull, BSN, RN. He was wounded, after allegedly protecting one of his co-workers from the gunfire.

It seems whenever you read news stories about random acts of violence, people often are quoted as saying they could never have imagined something like that happening there or happening to them. But looking at this incident at Danbury, I was wondering whether nurses have that same luxury. Can they truly say they never imagined experiencing an act of violence in their careers?

According to a 2009 report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health titled “State of the Sector/Healthcare and Social Assistance,” healthcare workers are more than three times as likely as workers in other industries to be injured by acts of violence.

The Emergency Nurses Association found 50 percent of nurses have experienced physical violence while working. The study, “Violence Against Nurses Working in U.S. Emergency Departments,” found one in four has experienced such violence more than 20 times.

What can be done to keep nurses safe? OSHA recommends, among other measures, to install metal detectors and enclose nurses’ stations in bullet-proof glass.

Stanley Lupienski, 85, the man charged in the shooting, was being admitted to the crisis intervention unit at the hospital. Apparently, he decided to bring the gun with him, the News-Times in Danbury reported.

Lupienski is charged with first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, illegal discharge of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit. A first-degree assault felony conviction could carry up to a 20-year prison term. But few convicted felons serve that long — especially when the victim did not die.

Fortunately, the shooting at Danbury is uncommon. It does, however, raise awareness that something needs to be done to protect nurses and other healthcare professionals in the workplace. Like the police who are trying to protect us on the streets, nurses are trying to help patients get well at the hospital. Individuals who interfere with that noble goal should be held to a higher standard and punished accordingly.

In the meantime, what can be done today to protect nurses and other healthcare workers from being victims in the first place? Let’s start the discussion publicly and perhaps together we can develop new solutions to workplace violence.