New guide for health services to create safe workplaces

ANMF’s new guide for health services to end violence and aggression outlines in detail the changes hospitals need to implement to make staff safer at work.

The 10-Point Plan to End Violence and Aggression: A Guide for Health Services uses a traffic-light approach to show hospitals how to move from a high risk to a low risk environment.

The Guide is part of ANMF’s work to assist public hospitals and mental health services meet their new obligations to end violence. ANMF will use this work as a blueprint for private acute and aged care employers to end violence in their workplaces.

The Guide is divided into 10 sections based on the ANMF’s 10 Point Plan:

1. Improve security
2. Identify risk to staff and others
3. Include family in the development of care plans
4. Report, investigate, act
5. Prevent violence through workplace design
6. Provide education and training to healthcare staff
7. Integrate legislation, policies and procedures
8. Provide post-incident support
9. Apply anti-violence approach across all health disciplines
10. Empower staff to expect a safe workplace

For example under improved security the Guide outlines the high to low risk approach a health service can take to applying an anti-violence approach across all health disciplines:

High risk (red): collaborative multi-disciplinary case conferences for patients with challenging behavior do not occur.

Reduced risk (orange): no clear model or process exists for regular collaborative multi-disciplinary case conferences for patients with challenging behaviour.

Low risk (green): a clear model and process exists and is implemented for regular collaborative multi-disciplinary case conferences for patients with challenging behaviour, with occupational violence and aggression as a specific consideration. Where appropriate, this involves family members, carers and / or nominated persons.

Creating change and safer workplaces must come from the executive level down and must involve a combined clinical, security and health and safety approach.

Hospital executives must drive the changes

The Guide articulates what a successful organisational response to the prevention of violence and aggression should look like.

ANMF is calling on all chief executive officers to commit to embrace the guide and drive their health service and their occupational violence and aggression committee to adopt and use these evidence-based systems.

Be part of the solution

Nurses, midwives and personal care workers should be safe at work. You can:

1. Read the 10-Point Plan to End Violence and Aggression: A Guide for Health Services so you know system changes required to create a safe workplace.
2. Report all incidents through your formal work channels