New policy aims to protect CT healthcare workers from violence

WALLINGFORD Injuries are common in an emergency room, and not always just to patients.

Charge nurse Teresa Marx of UConn Health said she has seen her colleagues attacked in the four years she has worked in the emergency room. She said some of her colleagues were kicked in the head. Others required stitches after being punched in the face.

Marx added that a knife was pulled on him during triage and a urinal thrown at him. She was also called biased and was the subject of a police visit.

There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t arrive at the emergency room knowing we’re going to face some sort of violence, whether physical or verbal, from patients, she said.

Like Marx, health care workers across the country are also seeing an increase in violence.

In 2018, the health care and social service sectors were five times more likely to experience workplace violence-related injuries than workers overall, and also experienced the highest rates of violence-related injuries at work, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor. Statistics.

In response, the Connecticut Hospital Association announced a new code of conduct for patients and their families during a news conference Friday morning at its headquarters in Wallingford.

Association CEO Jennifer Jackson said Connecticut hospitals have worked for years to support safe workplaces for caregivers and patients, but the new policy is part of their ongoing response to reduce the increasing violence against healthcare workers.

Adopting a statewide policy makes it even clearer that Connecticut hospitals are united against violence and will not relent in their efforts to keep every person safe in hospitals across the state , she said.

The new code of conduct is expected to apply to 27 of Connecticut’s acute care hospitals that are part of the association, as well as several health systems such as inpatient, outpatient, office-based and home care settings. It prohibits aggressive or violent behavior, threats, insulting remarks, discriminatory remarks, sexual harassment and weapons.

The new policy does not list potential consequences beyond having to leave the facility. However, Yale New Haven Hospital Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Ena Williams called the unified policy a bold step.

She explained that the policy is not intended for patients who cannot control their behavior when seeking care. Instead, she said the code of conduct aims to combat intolerance against healthcare workers by creating a safer environment in which they can provide quality care.

There is a shortage of healthcare workers, she said. We have expertise, we have knowledge, we have skills, we have tools, we have talents, we have capabilities, but we cannot do this to the best of our abilities if we are constantly bombarded with behaviors that that we face in our communities.

lguzman@record-journal.comTwitter: @lguzm_n

Latino community reporter Lau Guzmn is a corps member for Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Support RFA journalists at the Record-Journal with a donation at https://bit.ly/3Pdb0re. To learn more about RFA, visit www.reportforamerica.org.