According to a new survey, approximately 60% of workers in the U.S. healthcare sector are concerned about their personal safety while at work and these concerns are prompting many to consider quitting their positions. This situation is concerning because the healthcare industry is already facing worker shortages and those who want to leave could worsen matters.
The survey found that about 21% (3 million individuals) of healthcare workers in the United States say they worry about facing verbal harassment by patients most times or each time they go to their workplaces.
Reports of aggressive incidents were widespread among survey participants. For example, 79% said they had witnessed or personally experienced threats or aggressive behavior from patients. 61% said such behavior was exhibited by non-patients, such as family members. More than 50% reported feeling threatened by families or patients themselves.
From the survey findings, females seem to bear the brunt of workplace violence. For example, 88% of female survey respondents said they were exposed to workplace violence compared to 80% of male workers. 48% of female healthcare employees reported being subjected to physical assault while fewer males (34%) reported being victims of physical assaults.
Younger healthcare professionals also reported experiencing more aggressive behavior incidents (60%) while older workers were less targeted (19%). Nurses also tended to report more incidents of violence when compared to physicians. This could be because nurses spend more time interacting directly with patients while physicians spend less time interacting directly with patients.
The survey also investigated how safe healthcare workers currently feel in comparison to how they felt about their workplace safety at the time they joined the profession. Results show a deterioration. For example, 61% of all nurses polled revealed that their safety concerns have increased relative to how concerned they were when they started their careers.
These increasing safety concerns could explain why almost 20% of the professionals polled revealed that in the past 12 months, they have thought about leaving their positions. Approximately half of these individuals say they are likely to leave within the coming 12 months.
While safety concerns are growing, 77% of the respondents say no improvements have been made to the measures taken to improve their safety. In fact, 33% revealed that many incidents could have been averted had there been sufficient safety measures implemented at their workplaces. This is an indictment of the safety management systems at healthcare facilities.
If this trend of increasing safety concerns among healthcare workers continues, healthcare policy providers like Astiva Health could find themselves having to go the extra mile to vet facilities to establish the extent to which they ensure employee safety before entering contracts with them since these concerns could have a direct effect on healthcare service delivery.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Astiva Health are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/Astiva
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