7 September 2001

Zero Tolerance to Violence

At the annual conference in 2000, delegates endorsed a resolution calling for a Zero Tolerance to Violence by 2002 Campaign, and the setting up of a working party to put together the required resources to assist members in the formuilation of appropriate policy development to occur in workplaces. The working party which was subsequently formed consisted of Jocelyn Rogers, Kay Foran, Chris Hahne and Kate Jenner. The campaign has a multifaceted approach aimed at:

• The community - raising awareness of what is happening and telling them that this behaviour is not acceptable to nurses. 
• Nurses themselves - telling them they do not have to accept that violence is "part of the job", and that something can be put in place to prevent or minimise it. 
• Employers - to identify that this is an issue for their nursing staff and to work with them to develop and implement policies and procedures to prevent or minimise violence. Also to have procedures clearly identified for when an incident does occur inclusive of debriefing procedures. Furthermore we need to identify where there may be gaps in legislation, protocols etc that may inhibit actions being taken to prevent violence or lay charges against individuals. 
• Government - To work with government to ensure there is legislative basis to protect nurses in the workforce and allow them or their employer to take appropriate actions and against individual perpetrators of violence.

This campaign, launched at Conference 2001 by the QNU's OH&S Officer, Amanda Richards  is part of a national approach being taken to this issue by the Australian Nursing Federation and its respective state and territory branches. The Working Party presented its findings to Conference 2001, and we give you a brief overview of the Committee's work since its formation.

Working Party member Kate Jenner (Proserpine Hospital & Community Health Branch) was given the task of launching the Health & Safety Yearbook, which focuses on Violence in the Workplace. The Yearbook is a collection of articles chosen by the working party that give advice on how to implement programs in a workplace and hints on preventing violence. There is an also example of a checklist that can be adapted and utilised in your workplace.

Copies of the yearbook can be obtained by financial members by phoning the QNU Hotline on 07 3840 1419.

Chris Hahne - Royal Brisbane Hospital Branch Statistics and Literature Review

Chris was responsible for collecting statistics and conducting a literature review. He presented some very stark statistics to Conference including health being the most violent industry; registered nurses coming second in a list of most violent occupations; an Emergency Department report that showed all respondents experienced some form of violence at work at least weekly; and, most telling, the fact that 70% of incidents were not reported to authorities. Chris also presented material related to predisposing factors for violence and the risk factors that correlate with violence.

Kay Foran - Brassal Village Case Study from Aged Care

As a result of seeing that much of the focus of Zero Tolerance to Violence was related to the acute care sector, Kay was inspired to make people aware of violence nurses face in aged care and to inform people how widespread this issue is in the workplace. Kay presented a case study to conference which outlined activities which have been pursued in her workplace towards implementing a Zero Tolerance to Violence Support Group.

One of the most important activities in dealing with this issue was to 'open the doors' on violence. At Brassal Village this involved targeted information towards visitors, workers, residents and the public, a survey to determine the level and frequency of violence (which was most often unreported); the development of an 'assault incident form'; the formation of a support group; and training covering such issues as evasive self defence, defusing and de-briefing.

Jocelyn Rogers - Cairns Base Hospital Branch Case study - Emergency Department Cairns

Jocelyn presented a case study highlighting the activities undertaken at the Emergency Department at Cairns Base Hospital. The first step was the establishment of a multi-disciplinary taskforce to deal with the issue. A survey was conducted which identified the areas where violence was more prevalent; the type of violence that was occurring; the times at which violence was occurring; who was perpetrating the violence; and what factors may have lead to the violent incidents.

The taskforce has developed an on-going plan to deal with the issue which includes educating staff, developing strategies for support and incident reporting; and training in the management of anger and aggressive behavioural situations. In closing Jocelyn provided the following thought "A priest sees people at their best, a lawyer at their worst, but an Emergency Department sees them as they really are!" (Poetic licence - adapted from an old proverb).