An urgent need to understand and address the safety and well-being of hospital "sitters.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dement, John M. ; Lipscomb HJ ; Pompeii LA ; Schoenfisch AL ; Smith CD ; Upadhyaya M
• Description:
  Background: Hospital sitters provide continuous observation of patients at risk of harming themselves or others. Little is known about sitters' occupational safety and well-being, including experiences with patient/visitor-perpetrated violence (type II). Methods: Data from surveys, focus groups, individual interviews at six U.S. hospitals were used to characterize the prevalence of and circumstance surrounding type II violence against sitters, as well as broader issues related to sitter use. Results: Sitter respondents had a high 12-month prevalence of physical assault, physical threat, and verbal abuse compared to other workers in the hospital setting. Sitters and other staff indicated the need for clarification of sitters' roles regarding patient care and sitter well-being (e.g., calling for assistance, taking lunch/restroom breaks), training of sitters in personal safety and de-escalation, methods to communicate patient/visitor behaviors, and unit-level support. Conclusions: The burden of type II violence against hospital sitters is concerning. Policies surrounding sitters' roles and violence prevention training are urgently needed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Health Personnel Mental Disorders Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological Surveys And Questionnaires Violence
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Type II Violence Behavioral-disorders Constant Observation Health-care-personnel Health-surveys Injuries Injury-prevention Mixed-methods Physical-reactions Psychological-factors Psychological-stress Sitters Violence-prevention Work-performance Worker-health Workplace Violence

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046729
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2015 Dec; 58(12):1278-1287
• Contact Point Address:
  Ashley L. Schoenfisch, PhD, MSPH, Duke University School of Nursing, Elizabeth C. Clipp Research Building, 311 Trent Drive, Durham, North Carolina 27710
• Email:
  ashley.schoenfisch@duke.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas, Health Science Center - Houston
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20100701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20150630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:27ae0fb4c40ee8d5ce9e6128f5d009940ab38884ca368168a2577978a77ad32d49a2b10c3a5bfff790e9a32a07042de01b7fbc0b9c0e98cb3b74268a177f867c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202064/cdc_202064_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 115.93 KB ]