Research and resources

Govern­ment agencies and organi­za­tions at the state and federal levels have researched and devel­oped best practices for addressing violence in the workplace. We’ve gathered the most useful resources to help you under­stand the issue, advocate for safer workplaces and protect yourselves.

The Joint Commission: Huddle for Safety

This article discusses the use of an aggressive/​violent patient huddle to increase safety while trans­fer­ring patients from one unit to another. Staff percep­tion of safety is measured before and after the huddle implementation.

Larson, L. A., Finley, J. L., Gross, T. L., McKay, A. K., Moenck, J. M., Severson, M. A. & Clements, C. M.

(2019). Using a poten­tially aggressive/​violent patient huddle to improve health care safety.

The Joint Commis­sion Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 45, 74 – 80.

American Nurses Association: Workplace Violence

This resource describes data associ­ated with workplace violence and explains the four basic workplace violence types as classi­fied by the National Insti­tute for Occupa­tional Safety and Health (NIOSH). Also included is an overview of state laws/​legislation and the Joint Commis­sion Standard that requires leaders to uphold a culture of quality and safety.

American Nurses Associ­a­tion. (2019). Workplace violence. Retrieved from https://​www​.nursing​world​.org/​p​r​a​c​t​i​c​e​-​p​o​l​i​c​y​/​a​d​v​o​c​a​c​y​/​s​t​a​t​e​/​w​o​r​k​p​l​a​c​e​-​violence2/

American Nurses Association: Issue Brief (PDF)

This article addresses the ANA’s position of zero toler­ance of workplace violence. Barriers to reporting workplace violence and strate­gies to create a culture of reporting are discussed. The article concludes with recom­men­da­tions to combat violence in the workplace.

American Nurses Associ­a­tion. (2019). Issue brief: Reporting incidents of workplace violence.

Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/~495349/globalassets/docs/ana/ethics/endabuse-issue-brief-final.pdf.

Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI): Top 10 De-escalation Tips (PDF)

De-escala­tion is an effec­tive tool to decrease the likeli­hood of disrup­tive, violent behavior. This article highlights ten tips for de-escalation.

CPI. (2016). CPI’s top 10 de-escala­tion tips. Retrieved from https://​www​.joint​com​mis​sion​.org/​a​s​s​e​t​s​/​1​/​6​/​C​P​I​-​s​-​T​o​p​-​1​0​-​D​e​-​E​s​c​a​l​a​t​i​o​n​-​T​i​p​s​_​revised-01 – 18-17.pdf

Washington State Nurses Association: Violence in the Workplace (PDF)

This position paper serves as a founda­tion for action, joining Washington State Nurses Associ­a­tion with these promi­nent agencies in seeking solutions to workplace violence in health care settings.

Black, P.W. & Bruck, A. M. (2019). Position paper: Violence in the workplace. Retrieved from https://​cdn​.wsna​.org/​a​s​s​e​t​s​/​e​n​t​r​y​-​a​s​s​e​t​s​/​3​2​1​5​/​W​o​r​k​p​l​a​c​e​-​V​i​o​lence-2019 – 1.pdf