Violence can be absolutely devastating to a community. Whether at home, among neighbors or in the workplace, it can leave deep wounds, both physically and emotionally. The fact that violence is entirely preventable makes it even more tragic.
This Friday, June 8, we invite you to stand with us for the American Hospital Association’s Hospitals Against Violence Day of Awareness, #HAVhope, joining the conversation with us on social media. Help us spread the message that violence is not acceptable in our communities or in our hospitals, and show your commitment to ending violence in all its forms.
The numbers from across the country are staggering. Each year, American hospitals treat more than 2.3 million victims of violence and report 2,000 cases of children being subject to human trafficking. Each year, 2 million Americans are victims of workplace violence, and 55,000 will lose their lives to violence.
“Workplace violence has received increasing attention in recent years,” says Trish L. Anderson, MBA, BSN, WSHA director of quality & performance improvement, patient safety. “Although we tend to see reports in the media focused on dramatic events, such as homicides by former employees or co-workers, assaults on caregivers are far more common. The perpetrators of the violent acts are frequently under the victim’s care as either patients or recipients of social services.”
Trish can assist our members with a workplace violence prevention gap analysis, and you can reach her at trisha@wsha.org. This is an especially important topic in health care, considering:
- Health care and social assistance is the highest-risk major industry. The claims rate in this industry is about five times higher than for all other industries combined.
- Health and social service-related occupations accounted for approximately half of all violence-related claims, with nurses, nurses’ aides, police officers, health aides, psychiatric aides and social workers accounting for some of the highest volumes of violence-related claims.
We hope you will join us this week in taking a stand against violence. We invite you to share the AHA’s Hospitals Against Violence video, and sign on as a Hospitals Against Violence campaign supporter.
Sincerely,
Cassie Sauer
WSHA President & CEO
cassies@wsha.org
