UTHCPC Procedures - Verbal/Physical Abuse of Employees

Verbal/Physical Abuse of Employees

Date of Last Review 09/14/09
SME: HCPC Administrator

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to:

Clarify behavior expectations for all staff members including medical staff
.
Identify intimidating and disruptive behaviors that can contribute to poor patient satisfaction, threaten the performance of the health care team, employee satisfaction, and outcomes of care.

Policy

It is UTHCPC policy that the environment in which healthcare workers provide care should be safe and supportive to all workers regardless of discipline or position title.

To this end:

All employees are expected to maintain standards of conduct suitable and acceptable in the workplace, see HOOP 2.01, General Standards of Conduct

Verbal and/or physical abuse/assault is not tolerated under any circumstance

Intimidating and disruptive behaviors are not tolerated such as rude or disrespectful behavior that demonstrates a lack of regard for others and workplace bullying (intentional aggressive behavior

See the following examples of intimidating and disruptive behaviors

1	Verbal abuse

Verbal threats

Abusive language

Profanity

Loud, hostile tone which includes yelling

2	Physical assault or violence:

Hitting

Pushing

Grabbing

Restricting movement

Threatening

Attempting or causing injury to another person on the premises

Reporting employee abuse

If a staff member feels that she/he is a victim of verbal/physical abuse, she/he is to report such to her/his supervisor immediately in writing.

Investigating employee abuse
The following steps are involved in investigating employee abuse issues:

Step

Action

The supervisor begins an investigation immediately upon receipt of the employee's written report.

When possible the supervisor:

Encourages staff members to provide feedback directly

Attempts to resolve the issues between the staff members involved

Should the employee not feel comfortable directly addressing the co-worker, the supervisor intervenes at the employee's request.

The staff members and their respective supervisors meet to attempt to resolve the issue.
If the issue is not resolved at this level, the employee’s next level will be the Administrator.
If the complaint/concern involves a supervisor or manager, then the employee shall report it to the next level of administration.
Issues between medical staff and other hospital staff will go to the Medical Director and Administrator. Issues only involving medical staff will go the the Medical Director. In either of these cases, issues that are not resolved will go the the Executive Director.

Supervisors may refer staff members to HOOP 2.58 Problem Solving/Conflict Resolution with the staff member's agreement.

The supervisor is expected to follow UTHCPC disciplinary procedures to address confirmed verbal/physical abuse. See HOOP 5.13 Disciplinary Actions and UTHCPC procedure, Employee Counseling and Supervision.

Reference

HOOP 2.61 Violence Free Workplace

Related standard
The Joint Commission-Leadership Chapter

The Joint Commission: Sentinel Event Alert Issue 40

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