A 3 page paper proposing that a hospital stations at least one uniformed security officer in the Emergency Department. A 2005 study found that 45 percent of violent acts against ED physicians involved drugs or alcohol. Medical personnel's expertise generally does not extend to personal self-defense; neither should they be expected to require such skills to effectively perform their duties. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: CC6_KSnursPolAslt.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
its very nature is and must remain an open facility, allowing people to move freely in and out of its doors. Heightened security generally is not necessary on patient
floors containing beds for those who have been admitted to the hospital for treatment, and when it is such security can be added with relative ease. The Emergency Department
(ED) is another matter, however. A wide variety of people in varying states enter into the ED, often accompanied by or followed by individuals in heightened emotional or physical
states. The policy to be analyzed is that of protecting the safety and well being of medical professionals working in the ED.
The issue is: does the hospital provide adequate security for ED staff? Considerations Terry Kowalenko, MD, a member of the Michigan College of
Emergency Physicians Workplace Violence Task Force observes, "Emergency departments by their very nature are high stress for both the patient and staff" (Hughes, 2005). Beyond the routine stress of
the ED, adding "patients who are intoxicated, in a state of drug withdrawal, suffering from delirium, or have psychiatric problems that may make them more prone to violence - and
you have a potentially volatile atmosphere" (Hughes, 2005). Kowalenko, Walters, Khare, and Compton (2005) surveyed 171 ED physicians and learned that most reported
at least one violent act committed against them in the year preceding the study. Female physicians were at greater risk for violence on the part of the patient, or
a friend or relative of the patient. Though it would seem that ED staff would be at greater risk in urban areas, the study revealed no real difference in