Essay On Occupational Violence

 

According to the WHS legislation, it is the ethical and legal responsibility of healthcare professionals and the system is to eliminate risks to the health and safety of workers and other individuals as far as it is practicable (Simao et al., 2021). This means that healthcare professionals are expected to reasonably do all they can to manage and mitigate the risk of violence and aggression which occurs in the workplace (Simao et al., 2021).

 

From the case study, it is quite evident that the patient in care who has just delivered a baby is gradually behaving aggressively and violently, after having a conversation with her husband which might be the side effects of the IV drug that she was exposed to during her antenatal appointments. This behaviour of hers is thereby causing a threat to both workers and her child since she can harm her child and other healthcare workers with her violent and aggressive behaviour.

 

 

The above is a clear case of occupational violence where WHS legislation can be successfully applied to the case. Thus, according to the above legislation in these types of situations, it is the responsibility of the healthcare system to effectively minimize the risk of harm and violence not only for the patient and the healthcare workers but also for the new born child (WHS Duties, 2018). To further minimize the risk to the health and safety of workers, patients, and the baby, advocacy for safety and security should be promoted which is another requirement of the WHS legislation (WHS Duties, 2018). This will help in ensuring that all dangerous devices and equipment are kept away from the patient through which the patient might harm herself and others (Williamson et al., 2018).

 

Apart from this, WHS legislation states that it is essential to consult with workers, and health and safety representatives regarding safety issues. Thus, to deal with the concerned issue, the healthcare system should promote partnership and collaboration when there is a threat to patient and worker safety since collective action, effort and techniques will help in reducing workplace violence (Lowe et al., 2021).

 

 

Together the team can design and implement anti-violence initiatives that help in preventing harm to them and also helps in offering appropriate care to patients. The collaboration will also help in giving immediate debriefing to all healthcare staff on how they can successfully deal with the aggressive and violent behaviour of the patient which is again one of the criteria of WHS legislation (Mehigan, 2020).

 

 

Apart from this, the child legislation which is applicable here is The Child Protection Act 1999, which aims to protect children from harm and risk whose parents are unable and unwilling to protect them (Queensland Government, 2018). From the case study it is quite evident that at present, the mother due to her own physical and mental health issues is unable to effectively take appropriate and safe care of her infant.

 

Additionally, there are high chances that her aggressive and violent behaviour might have a serious impact on the health and care of the newborn child and might also increase child harm and vulnerability. Therefore, by complying with the legislation, the baby can be placed in the care of an approved carer that will help in ensuring that child in care will be cared for in a way that will help in meeting the standards of care and will also ensure the safety of the child (Queensland Government, 2018).

 

The ethical responsibility of the healthcare system especially the healthcare team to treat the patient with respect, uphold her dignity and promote unconditional positive regard (Chirico et al., 2019). The above ethical responsibilities will help healthcare professionals to behave appropriately with the patient and not judge them according to their behaviour has a positive impact on the emotional and mental health of patients (Chirico et al., 2019).

 

If healthcare professionals mistreat and show bias against patients due to their behaviour and habits, then it increases the chances of harm to self and others due to lack of emotional support. However, when the above ethical aspects will be promoted then it might help in dealing with the crisis of occupational violence that is being faced by the healthcare unit (Lowe et al., 2021).

 

Additionally, immediate counselling should also be provided to the patient since it is the ethical and legal responsibility of healthcare systems to provide care and treatment without delay that will help in preventing harm (Mehigan, 2020).

 

The social justice framework is a way of seeing and acting that is aimed at resisting inequity as well as unfairness while also ensuring and enhancing the freedom for all (Nelson & Creagh 2013). There are five principles of the social justice framework and they are- self-determination, rights, access, equity, and participation. Thus, the principle of rights and participation from the social justice framework can be effectively used within the healthcare system and by the SRN to deal with the crisis of occupational violence.

 

Prevention of occupational violence and aggression in the workplace is a policy in Australia that helps in dealing with the issue of occupational violence within the health and social care sectors (Morphet et al., 2018). Thus, the above policy will help in dealing with the chosen social issue since it helps in protecting nurses, and other stakeholders from aggressive and violent behaviour. Therefore, by complying with the policy the healthcare system can effectively respond to the chosen occupational event (Morphet et al., 2018).

 

For instance, providing information, education and training to staff members regarding workplace policies, capacity to respond to incidents, and educating them on prevention and risk control measures are some of the ways that the healthcare system can help in meeting the issue of occupational violence (Spelten et al., 2020). Similarly, the healthcare system can keep records of violent incidents in the workplace through a workplace violence prevention policy that will help the SRN to understand the actions required to mitigate the issue of occupational violence (Spelten et al., 2020).

 

Thus, the chosen policy and healthcare system strategy will not only help in reducing the risk of occupational violence but will also help in promoting the principle of rights and participation. Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights is another document that will help in meeting the principles (Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights, 2019) The Charter has highlighted some specific rights for patients that need to be promoted and advocated by healthcare professionals that will help in delivering a safe and high-quality health system. Some of the rights highlighted in the Charter are- access, safety, respect, communication, participation, privacy and feedback and are to be enjoyed by patients in health settings.

 

Hence, to ensure that the patient’s right is upheld, she will be treated with dignity, and respect, and be valued within the healthcare system (Kwame & Petrucka 2022). She will not be discriminated against, disrespected or shown bias due to her behaviour. Apart from this, her right to autonomy will also be respected through the promotion of empowerment and participation where her right to be an active member in the decision-making process will be encouraged. 

 

 

Apart from this, to ensure that the social justice principle and Charter Rights of participation are promoted, the SRN should promote the participation of not only patients but also other healthcare staff in the decision-making process that will help in arriving at conclusive decisions (Fazeli et al., 2020). Participation of healthcare workers will help in arriving at joint and collective decision-making where different expert ideas can be explored to select the best care for the patient.

 

Similarly, when the patient will be encouraged to participate in her own health decisions then this will also help in promoting the chosen principle of the social justice framework. To ensure participation, the patient can be educated on how IV drugs during her prenatal period have affected her which has resulted in her present aggressiveness and impulsiveness.  She can also be educated on how these behaviours might affect her child, marital relationship and most importantly her emotional, physical and mental health and well-being. This will thereby increase her participation in her health decision-making and will thereby guarantee a better response to treatment plans and interventions (Kvæl et al., 2018).

 

The healthcare profession of nurse will help in effectively dealing and coping with the problem of occupational violence. For instance, building a professional and therapeutic relationship with the patient is an RN standard of practice that is aligned with the case. The standard states that, it is the duty and responsibility of a nurse to offer empathy to patients when they suffer from mental problems (NMBA, 2016).

 

Since the patient has had previous experiences of indulging in IV drugs, therefore nurse through the above RN standard can offer her empathy to promote communication between the two. The RN standard will also encourage the nurse to show respect toward the patient which will help in increasing her trust. In turn, this will encourage the patient to respond to treatment and interventions offered by the nurse eventually reducing the incidence of occupational violence (Bernardo et al., 2018).

 

Thus, the above standard will help the nurse to provide the patient with emotional support through effective and efficient counselling where the patient can be engaged in conversation, will be heard, her personal values will be understood, and past information leading to IV drug indulgence will be gathered (Pohl et al., 2022).

 

Subsequently, it should be noted that through counselling, the nurse will be able to help the patient to control her negative impulses, thoughts, and feelings that lead to erratic behaviour (Pohl et al., 2022). This will thereby help in addressing the issue of occupational violence and will also promote the safety of the patient, her child, and other healthcare staff.

 

Another RN standard that can be applied to the case is to “provide and promote safe, quality, appropriate, and responsive care for patients” (NMBA, 2016). The above ethical responsibility and RN standards will help nurses to value non-harmful and non-discriminatory care (NMBA, 2016). This will encourage the nurse to engage in person-centred care where the likes, preferences, treatment choices, and health expectations of the patient will be considered leading to the development of a positive relationship with the patient (Butts & Rich 2019).

 

The above standard will also help the nurse to offer active listening skills where patients’ grievances are heard without making any judgements. When the nurse will actively listen to the patient without interference and interruption then it will make the patient feel valued within the healthcare unit (Butts & Rich 2019). This will eventually help in easing her fear, discomfort and anxiety which will make the patient think and act rationally thereby preventing the risk of occupational violence (Clucas et al., 2019).

 

Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights. (2019). https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/ 

 

 

Bernardo, M. O., Cecílio-Fernandes, D., Costa, P., Quince, T. A., Costa, M. J., & Carvalho-Filho, M. A. (2018). Physicians' self-assessed empathy levels do not correlate with patients' assessments. PloS one, 13(5), e0198488. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198488

 

 

Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2019). Nursing ethics. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

 

 

Chirico, F., Heponiemi, T., Pavlova, M., Zaffina, S., & Magnavita, N. (2019). Psychosocial risk prevention in a global occupational health perspective. A descriptive analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(14), 2470. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142470 

 

 

Clucas, C., Chapman, H., & Lovell, A. (2019). Nurses’ experiences of communicating respect to patients: Influences and challenges. Nursing ethics, 26(7-8), 2085-2097. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733019834974 

 

 

Fazeli, S. N., Sedghisabet, M., Moghadamnia, M. T., & Kazemnejad Leili, E. (2020). The status of observing the charter of patients’ rights and related factors from the point of view of hospitalized patients. Journal of Holistic Nursing And Midwifery, 30(3), 144-150. http://hnmj.gums.ac.ir/ 

 

 

Kvæl, L. A. H., Debesay, J., Langaas, A., Bye, A., & Bergland, A. (2018). A concept analysis of patient participation in intermediate care. Patient Education and Counseling, 101(8), 1337-1350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2018.03.005 

 

 

Kwame, A., & Petrucka, P. M. (2022). Universal healthcare coverage, patients' rights, and nurse-patient communication: a critical review of the evidence. BMC nursing, 21(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00833-1 

 

 

Lowe, D., Ryan, R., Schonfeld, L., Merner, B., Walsh, L., Graham-Wisener, L., & Hill, S. (2021). Effects of consumers and health providers working in partnership on health services planning, delivery and evaluation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (9). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858 

 

 

Morphet, J., Griffiths, D., Beattie, J., Reyes, D. V., & Innes, K. (2018). Prevention and management of occupational violence and aggression in healthcare: A scoping review. Collegian, 25(6), 621-632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2018.04.003 

 

 

Mehigan, S. (2020). Learning in partnership. In Dimensions on Nursing Teaching and Learning (pp. 21-32). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39767-8_2 

 

 

Nelson, K. J., & Creagh, T. A. (2013). A good practice guide: Safeguarding student learning engagement. Social Justice Framework. Australian Government. https://safeguardingstudentlearning.net 

 

 

Nursing and Midwifery Board Australia (NMBA). (2016). Registered Nurse Standards for Practice. https://www.cdu.edu.au/ 

 

 

Pohl, S., Battistelli, A., Djediat, A., & Andela, M. (2022). Emotional support at work: a key component for nurses’ work engagement, their quality of care and their organizational citizenship behaviour. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 100424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2022.100424 

 

 

Simao, D. D. C., Karanikas, N., Cortes-Ramirez, J., & Sav, A. (2021). Workplace health and safety consultation in Australia: a scoping review. Journal of Health, Safety and Environment, 37(2).

 

 

Spelten, E., Thomas, B., O'Meara, P. F., Maguire, B. J., FitzGerald, D., & Begg, S. J. (2020). Organisational interventions for preventing and minimising aggression directed towards healthcare workers by patients and patient advocates. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012662 

 

 

Queensland Government. (2018). Child Protection Act 1999.  Queensland Child Protection System. https://www.qld.gov.au/ 

 

 

WHS Duties. (2018). Workplace Violence and Aggression. Safe Work Australia. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/ 

 

 

Williamson, A., Armstrong, K., Edwards, J., & Obst, P. (2018). Learning from the positive to encourage compliance with workplace health and safety. In 20th International Conference on Positive Psychology and Wellbeing (ICPPW 2018). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/