Workplace Violence Prevention

Collaborating to Stop Violence Against Healthcare Workers

Healthcare professionals dedicate their lives to healing and caring for others. Yet, within the walls of hospitals, they face an alarming and disheartening challenge in this effort: workplace violence. This issue extends beyond isolated incidents; it affects the very fabric of our healthcare system. Nurses, doctors, and support staff will all inevitably encounter verbal abuse, physical assaults, and threats while fulfilling their duties. These acts of violence not only harm caregivers, but also jeopardize patient safety.

That’s why SCHA is committed to working with our members to make a difference on this issue. From advocating at the SC State House and in Washington for policies that protect healthcare workers to innovative efforts to improve data collection and shed new awareness on this issue, we’re doing all we can to ensure our hospitals remain sanctuaries of healing and compassion. Below are just a few of our current efforts:

The “Do No Harm” Workplace Violence Awareness Toolkit

Spreading the Message of Safety & Security in SC Hospitals

SCHA has developed a comprehensive “Do No Harm” Workplace Violence Toolkit aimed at raising awareness and deterring incidents of workplace violence within hospitals. This toolkit includes op-eds, posters, a code of conduct, and more. The full toolkit will be available soon.

Advocating for the SAVE Act

Enactment of the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act (H.R. 2584/S. 2768) is a top priority for the SCHA, the American Hospital Association, and the entire hospital field. This bipartisan bill would provide federal protections from workplace violence for healthcare workers, similar to the protections in current law for airport and aircraft employees. AHA has created a number of resources that can be used to highlight the need to pass the SAVE Act, including a fact sheet, a digital toolkit, and this Infographic. If you have further questions, please contact AHA at 800-424-4301.

Data Collaborative with Antum Risk

Through a partnership with Antum Risk, South Carolina now has a statewide platform for all healthcare facilities in the state to upload their data to a centralized location. This will drive "Step One" of this program, which is this new data collection and data collaborative effort that will allow us to standardize and quantify data like where, when, and how often events are happening. This will be freely available to all hospitals willing to participate--they will not need to be Antum Risk members.

If your hospital would like to participate, please complete the Participation Agreement, Data Use Agreement, and Organizational Assessment Survey.  Once all three of the required program materials have been submitted, a staff member will contact you about the data submission process.

For more information, contact Beth Morgan or see this press release.

Program Materials:

Best Practices from SC Hospitals