Nurse toolkit aims to stem ER violence

Des Plaines, IL – A new toolkit is available to assist emergency rooms in mitigating workplace violence against staff.

The Emergency Nurses Association is offering the online toolkit free. The resource provides information on how to develop and implement a plan to manage violence and protect patients and staff in ERs.

According to an association press release, an ENA study found half of emergency nurses surveyed had experienced some type of physical or verbal abuse; in half of the physical abuse cases, no action was taken against the attacker. In about 75 percent of the cases, hospitals failed to respond to nurses’ reports of violence, the study reported.

“Research has shown that hospitals that have policies and plans for addressing workplace violence have lower rates of violence than hospitals that don’t,” ENA President AnnMarie Papa said in the release.

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