Workforce and Workplace Violence Prevention
Workplace violence is an urgent and pressing concern that significantly impacts the physical and emotional well-being of health care professionals. From verbal aggression to outright physical attacks, the consequences can be profoundly distressing. At Hospitals Against Violence (HAV), we firmly advocate that prevention begins with comprehensive education, heightened awareness, and a steadfast dedication to transformation.
Please visit AHA’s AHA's Workplace Violence Advocacy page to learn more about our advocacy positions and efforts to protect health care workers.
AHA also targets to enhance workforce safety through the work of the Patient Safety Initiative, a broad-based, data-driven collaboration among member hospitals and health systems to drive safety forward. LEARN MORE
Creating Safer Workplaces Guide with IAHSS
A collaboration between the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) to recommend action steps for hospital leaders to build a safer workplace.
Mitigating Targeted Violence in Health Care Settings
Podcast: Karie Gibson, Psy.D., unit chief of one of the FBI’s five Behavioral Analysis Units, discusses the meaning of behavioral threat assessments and how it applies to the threat of violence against hospitals and health systems
Active Shooter
HAV has gathered a list of resources and tools that provide guidance on how to prepare and respond to an active shooter incident for health care facilities.
CASE STUDIES
These case studies exemplify how a range of organizations have addressed workplace violence using both best practices and individual solutions that can be tailored based on an organization’s size, resources and culture.
- Security Measures Elevated at Norton Children’s Hospital
- Changing Perceptions About Safety Event Reporting at Advocate Aurora Health
- Strict Entry Procedures at St. Joseph’s Hospital of Buckhannon in W.Va.
- Building a Culture of Safety with Peer-to-Peer Support at CHI Health
- Proactive Training at Children’s Hospital of Orange County
- Heightened Vigilance at MLK Jr. Community Healthcare
- The Power of Signage at Piedmont Healthcare
- Creating Safer Workplaces: Safety Strategies that Worked Compendium
Featured Resources
Building a Safe Workplace
and Community Framework
Mitigating the Risk of Violence
This issue brief presents challenges and strategies to mitigate the risk of violence.
This issue brief examines trauma support for hospital hospital and health system team members.
This issue brief examines how hospitals’ violence mitigation efforts can fit effectively into an organization’s culture of safety strategy.
Virtual Convening
Facility Safety and Security in Health Care
HAV presents a 75-minute virtual convening exploring facility safety and security strategies and the technologies that aim to mitigate workforce and workplace violence. Learn about new and innovative approaches to prevent targeted violence, improve physical and psychological safety and increase collaboration with law enforcement.
PODCASTS
- Podcast: FBI Violence Prevention Strategies to Assess and Manage Threats Against Health Care
- Podcast: Codes of Conduct – An Approach to Reducing Workplace Violence
- Podcast: Nurse Leaders Discuss Covid-19 Nursing Challenges, Solutions
- Podcast: Combating Workplace Violence in Health Care by Creating Safer Workplaces
- Podcast: De-escalating Workplace Violence in Behavioral Health Settings
WEBINARS
- Webinar: Workplace Violence and Covid-19: An Environmental Scan
- Webinar: Care for the Caregiver: Supporting a Healthy and Resilient Workforce
- Webinar: Partnering with Law Enforcement
- Webinar: Mission Health’s Journey to Prevent Workplace Violence
- Webinar: Workplace Violence Best Practices for the Worst Case
Additional Resources
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- GAO Report: Workplace Safety and Health: Additional Efforts Needed to Help Protect Health Care Workers from Workplace Violence
- AHA RESOURCE: Health Facilities Management – 2018 Hospital Security Survey (HFM Magazine Article)
- Case Study: Grady Health System, Atlanta, GA - Managing Workplace Safety and Reducing Workplace Violence
- Case Study: Medstar Georgetown University Hospital’s Care for the Caregiver Program
- Case Studies: Creating Safer Workplaces: Safety Strategies that Worked
- Strengthening the Health Care Workforce
- Advertorial: Supporting the Health Care Workers Who Support All of Us
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- Resource List: FBI's Active Shooter Resources
- Webinar: Workplace Violence Best Practices for the Worst Case
- AHRM Resource - ASHRM Health Care Facility Workplace Violence Risk Assessment Tool
- Webinar: Schwab Rehab Hospital and HealthSouth Rehab Hospital – Strategies to address violence in post-acute environments
- Case Study: King’s Daughters’ Hospital – ED Shooting Reveals Protocol Strengths and Areas of Improvement
- Webinar: Midland Health, Boston Medical Center, Baptist Health – Partnering with Law Enforcement
- IHF’s Violence Against People in Hospitals White Paper
- Tennessee Hospital Association: Developing a Workplace Violence Prevention Program
- Massachusetts Hospital Association’s Developing Healthcare Safety and Violence Prevention Programs within Hospitals
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- AONL Resource List: AONL Workplace Violence Prevention
- State Resource: Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health System – Workplace Violence Prevention Toolkit
- National Resource List: The Joint Commission – Workplace Violence Prevention Resources for Health Care
- State Resource: Kansas Hospital Association White Paper – Assessing the Challenges and Creating Safety Focused Solutions
- State Resource: Minnesota Hospital Association – Preventing Violence in Healthcare Gap Analysis
- Case Study: Grady Health System – Managing Workplace Safety and Reducing Workplace Violence
- Webinar: Mission Health’s Journey to Prevent Workplace Violence
- Webinar: Caring for the Caregiver: Supporting a Healthy and Resilient Workforce