There is an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal online about workplace violence–healthcare workplaces that is. The scary thing about this article is not so much the degree of violence that healthcare workers, but how blase these people seem. They seem to take it in stride and “accept” it as being a normal part of the job.

From the WSJ.com:

The risks are part of the nursing job that doesn’t get talked about much or even reported. Most nurses I’ve known seem to figure it comes with the territory. It’s something that you can’t always guard against.

Many nurses and nursing assistants have had patients accidentally injure them. One obstetrics nurse at our hospital was injured when a patient grabbed her around the neck while pushing in labor. She needed medical treatment for a neck strain afterwards.

Certified nurse assistants, who do the bulk of patient lifting and moving, get back injuries frequently. They often work shorthanded because the pay is low, the work is hard and their co-workers don’t show up. Patients unexpectedly drop on them or grab them and pull them off balance.

A 2002 study in the Journal of Emergency found that at a large Florida hospital 88% of nurses reported being verbally assaulted and 74% reported being physically assaulted while at work in the past year. (Read the abstract)

With hospitals focused on patient safety and patient satisfaction, the nursing safety issue hasn’t gotten as much attention.

Nurses and doctors in the emergency department are the most likely to encounter workplace violence.

A 2005 study of Michigan ER doctors showed that 75% were verbally threatened, 28% were physically assaulted and 3.5% were stalked in the previous year.

No, I’m sorry, but these risks are not part of the nursing job. At least, not to the rate that they are occurring. Doesn’t the rate of 74% of ER nurses being physically assaulted send out shock waves? Shouldn’t these nurses (and the physicians and everyone else in the ER) be demanding increased security in their work area? Then again, that study was done in Florida, one of those glorious right-to-work states that prides itself on crushing labor unions. But even so, there are enough jobs all over the state, and no one should be forced to work in that type of situation.

This is really a case of where healthcare workers just have to refuse to take this kind of abuse. Working as a nurse, physician, aide, etc, is hard enough as it is. You shouldn’t have to worry about violent patients and an employer who doesn’t care what happens to you. I don’t care if the hospital has to post a whole squadron of armed security guards in the ER–healthcare workers need to be protected in order to do their job.

And as far as accidental injuries, well, many if not most facilities don’t really care either. If they did, patient lifts would be standard equipment, and they’d make sure that they had sufficient personnel to assist with moving heavy equipment and patients. Hire a team of muscle men if you have to, but nurses aren’t weight lifters. But yet, I’ve heard nurses complain about how they have to lift a 300 pound patient all by themselves, or have to go and beg for help…you know what? As long as the nurse will do it, things aren’t going to change. The outcome is that the nurse thinks that she’s “helping” the patient by moving a body that needs an electronic lift or ten pairs of strong hands. She’ll hurt her back or worse, and then the hospital doesn’t want to know her. They’ll fire her, do their best to deny workman’s comp….basically, nurses are often treated like pieces of equipment. You use it until it breaks or gets worn out and then toss it out.

Do doctors and nurses ever get mugged on the TV show ER? Or do they exist in a perfect world, where all patients survive and all are bursting over with gratitude?