The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA), serving as the leading advocate for psychiatric-mental health nursing, lends its support to the dedicated efforts of psychiatric-mental health nurse administrators, educators, practitioners, and researchers. They are working diligently to create safer work environments for their healthcare peers, a matter of increasing concern in light of the rising instances of violence towards nurses, particularly in psychiatric settings. APNA is resolute in its call for collective action to confront the pervasive issue of workplace violence. According to APNA's 2022 report on the psychiatric-mental health nursing workforce, more than one-third of psychiatric-mental health registered nurses express feeling unsafe in their workplace.


In an unwavering commitment to ensuring the safety of psychiatric-mental health nurses and enabling them to deliver essential person-centered care to individuals with mental health needs, APNA endorses a set of recommendations to address this pressing crisis (Beeber, Delaney, Hauenstein, Iennaco, Schimmels, Sharp, & Shatell, 2023):


Mandate comprehensive federal action to compel regulators to address workplace violence within the healthcare sector.

Incorporate quality indicators into national healthcare accreditation requirements, thereby fostering accountability for hospitals and psychiatric facilities in their efforts to shield staff from violence.

Establish institutional data systems to track healthcare worker exposure to aggressive incidents, thus facilitating the development of best practices for prevention and post-incident care.

Cultivate a healthcare organizational culture that underscores safety and empowers nurses to report workplace violence incidents.

Enhance nursing education to ensure that students are adequately equipped to identify, document, and intervene in instances of workplace violence.

In accordance with the APNA Violence Prevention Position Paper (2022), "PMH nurses are ideally positioned to lead violence prevention efforts by assessing risk factors, providing counseling and education, and serving as role models while actively addressing cultural norms linked to violence." APNA believes that these five recommendations represent a multifaceted approach capable of generating substantial momentum in comprehensively addressing the complex and escalating problem of workplace violence within healthcare settings.


Approved by the APNA Board of Directors in October 2023.


References:


American Psychiatric Nurses Association (2022). APNA 2022 psychiatric-mental health nursing workforce report. Retrieved from https://www.apna.org/workforce


American Psychiatric Nurses Association (2022). APNA position: Violence prevention. Retrieved from https://www.apna.org/news/violence-prevention/


Beeber, L., Delaney, K. R., Hauenstein, E., Iennaco, J., Schimmels, J., Sharp, D., & Shattell, M. (2023). Five Urgent Steps to Address Violence Against Nurses In The Workplace. Health Affairs Forefront. Retrieved from https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/five-urgent-steps-address-violence-against-nurses-workplace


Devi, S. (2020). COVID-19 exacerbates violence against health workers. The Lancet, 396(10252), 658.


U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (April 2020). Fact sheet: Workplace violence in healthcare, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/iif/factsheets/workplace-violence-healthcare-2018.htm



  • Meta description: Workplace violence is a serious problem, but there are steps that employers and employees can take to prevent it. This comprehensive guide covers everything from understanding the signs of workplace violence to developing a prevention plan.
  • Keyword : "workplace violence," "prevention of workplace violence," and "violence training"