A local hospital is making it clear that violence in any way, shape, or form is not welcome on its campuses.
Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare presented an update of its workplace violence prevention campaign during a media event on Monday. The campaign, with the tagline "It hurts to be quiet", consists of a broad approach to informing the public that violence of any kind is not tolerated in a healing environment.
Janice Kaffer, president and CEO of HDGH, said healthcare free of violent or aggressive behaviour is everyone's business.
"It's really to start having a public conversation about the importance of creating safe healthcare environments for both our patients and our staff," said Kaffer.
Signs and banners promoting "Respect" and "It Hurts to Be Quiet" have been placed on the outside of the hospital's west Windsor building and its other campuses. The message has also been put on elevator wraps and posters located in all staff rooms.
Representatives of hospital staff spoke about the frequency of uncivil behaviour taking place in all aspects of care, ranging from visitors verbally abusing receptionists to physical violence between patients and staff, and between staff members. Kaffer said it's all about stopping such behaviour at once and ensuring it isn't repeated.
"We're talking about the fact that violence is not part of the job," said Kaffer. "When people come to work every day they need to be able to go home knowing that they've done their best to provide a safe patient care experience, or they've done their best in terms of the workplace, whatever it is they do."
Kaffer also stressed the importance of HDGH's safety reporting system, which is designed for staff to report incidents involving patients, visitors, and colleagues immediately. Also, a series of hard-hitting instructional videos is being produced to help staff deal with all forms of aggressive behaviour. The videos, to be completed later this year, will cover patient-family violence, domestic violence, violence between colleagues, and a lockdown situation involving someone with a weapon.
A sign promoting Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare's zero-tolerance policy on violence is seen on the outside of the hospital building in west Windsor, March 4, 2019. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
