The report includes several recommendations to reduce emergency department violence and address the barriers to reporting that violence when it does occur. They include:
· Ensuring that emergency department staff know that senior administration is aware of the issues and support efforts to prevent and mitigate violence.
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· Encouraging nurse executives to take steps to make the department safe.
· Establishing a culture of acceptance for reporting violence incidents.
· Developing clear and consistent procedures for reporting violent incidents.
· Providing access to medical care and follow up counseling as needed for emergency department staff who are victims of workplace violence.
· Appointing an interdisciplinary task force to identify vulnerabilities in the emergency department and develop a plan for preventing, mitigating, responding to and reporting violence.
The report's authors also recommend federal and state laws to protect emergency department nurses from violence. Currently, laws protecting emergency nurses vary widely by state and several have no such laws.
Violence Against Nurses Working in U.S. Emergency Departments is published in the July/August issue of the Journal of Nursing Administration.
The ENA surveyed 3,465 emergency nurses nationwide. The 69-question survey was conducted online for one month in Spring 2007. The majority of respondents (87 percent) worked in general emergency departments; 64 percent worked as staff nurses and more than half (52 percent) worked a day shift. The mean years of emergency nursing experience among respondents was twelve. Nearly 84 percent of the respondents were women.
About the Emergency Nurses Association
The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) is the only professional nursing association dedicated to defining the future of emergency nursing and emergency care through advocacy, expertise, innovation, and leadership. Founded in 1970, ENA serves as the voice of more than 36,000 members and their patients through research, publications, professional development, injury prevention, and patient education. Additional information is available at ENA's Web site, www.ena.org.
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