“Workplace violence is a workplace hazard and should not be accepted,” said Jamin Homan, ThedaCare registered nurse.
Homan’s comments capture the essence of why ThedaCare has strengthened its efforts to help curb the likelihood of violence on its campuses. Homan is one of the experts leading the movement to reduce and prevent incidents of violence at ThedaCare.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workplace violence is a recognized hazard in the health care industry. Workplace violence is defined as an act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.
Workplace violence ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. In 2010, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed health care and social assistance workers were the victims of about 11,370 assaults by persons — a greater than 13% increase over the number of such assaults reported in 2009. Almost 19% (i.e., 2,130) of these assaults occurred in nursing and residential care facilities alone. More incidents likely are unreported.
In October 2024, ThedaCare began a stronger push to train team members in de-escalation techniques. At ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah, nearly 100 clinical and security team members have since undergone training as part of the ThedaCare Workplace Violence Prevention program, Homan said. Once trained, individuals become part of the Behavioral Emergency Response Team.
“Because we are dedicated to the safety of our patients and their families, visitors and, of course, our team members, creating this program was a top priority,” Homan said. “With support and empowerment from our hospital leadership, we adopted a framework to address patients when they become agitated. For example, furrowing their brows, staring our team members down and getting in their personal space. We wanted our team members to be more assertive at that point to address that agitation.”
Homan noted that in recent years, caregivers have been increasingly desensitized to agitation and aggressiveness from patients.
“Caregivers are often focused on providing patients the best care possible, even during instances where a patient is growing increasingly agitated,” Homan said. “If we do not de-escalate that agitation, we know at that point it’s like a tinderbox. We want to do everything we can to support the patient and help prevent an incident of violence.”
Homan said plans to train team members at other ThedaCare sites are evolving.
“The Workplace Violence Task Force is determining future rollouts of the program,” he said. “Workplace Violence Prevention preparedness and training is a collaboration. It’s different disciplines coming together to say we all agree we that we need to make sure our team members are better prepared to handle these potentially violent situations. And it’s showing great outcomes.”
That includes positive support for system recruitment and retention, for example.
“It’s truly taking care of our caregivers and making sure that we promote a healthy work environment to enable longevity on our teams,” Homan said. “That comes when caregivers feel safe at work and understand how to safely and properly de-escalate situations that have the potential for violence.”
