Hospital HR: Creating a Safe Environment for Your Hospital

You may think you know a lot about Hospital HR; but are you aware of the role they can play in Hospital security? We all know about the surge in violence in America. What you probably didn’t know is that hospital staff is often a target in these attacks. 63% of all non-fatal attacks in the U.S. occur in hospital or social service settings.  Even though HR professionals aren’t necessarily on the “front lines”, they have ample opportunity to prevent violence in a hospital setting. In fact, often times, employees report incidents to HR instead of police or security. Here are five things hospital and healthcare facility managers should know about the role HR can play in keeping hospitals safe.

• Training of managers is essential – Supervisors can watch to see if any sudden personality changes occur among staff. They then can address the problem before it comes to a head.
• Thorough background checks can prevent trouble – HR needs to diligently screen all candidates to make sure that they are not hiring volatile people.
• The employees on the front line can be taught to diffuse tense situations – Empathy goes a long way toward the resolution of issues between patients and staff.
• HR should encourage staff to call in abusive patients – Security can be alerted to the sources of the problems so they can respond quickly and adequately.
• Human Resources needs to realize that no hospital is immune – Violence can occur anywhere on campus at any time.

The best HR policy is zero tolerance. Both employees and patients should be advised to speak up immediately if they see something amiss. That includes everyone from housekeeping to the chief surgeon. The maintenance staff should not double as security; there should be a dedicated, professional security team. However, all should be instructed to be observant. Here is an article worth reading on how HR can specifically prevent gun violence on the hospital campus. If you’re looking for even more information on the role of Hospital HR, join us on our twitter feed. Please contact us if you’d like to talk to someone about these five things, or anything HR related! Thank you.