GNYHA recently hosted a webinar on training approaches and structures to help prevent and mitigate workplace violence. The webinar reviewed requirements and recommendations from The Joint Commission and the US Occupational and Safety Administration. NYC Health + Hospitals and NewYork-Presbyterian Health System also discussed their initiatives to enhance the psychological and physical safety of the workforce.
NYC Health + Hospital’s Jeremy Segall (Senior Director, System Performance Improvement in the Office of Quality and Safety) shared key details of a multipronged training program to improve safety and communication within the behavioral health service line across NYC H + H’s 11 acute care facilities, and how this effort is being scaled to reach general medicine departments. Mr. Segall also discussed two new system-wide initiatives to manage agitated patients and support employees after adverse events that are being integrated into the system’s overall violence reduction efforts.
NewYork-Presbyterian’s Gary Sorkin (Corporate Director, Finance and Insurance) and Erica Gralnick (Manager, Business Administration, Security and Emergency Management) discussed their system’s Zero Workplace Harm Initiative, which is being rolled out to the system’s 11 campuses. Part of NewYork-Presbyterian’s Respect Credo, the Zero Workplace Harm Initiative integrates numerous worker and workplace safety training, resource, and technology initiatives, with a commitment to empowering individuals by teaching and supporting structured, iterative problem-solving.
The two initiatives share many common features, including strong leadership support and commitment, reliance on evidence-based practices, system-wide and facility-level support structures, and flexibility to encourage facility- and unit-level innovation. Presenters discussed the importance of continually learning, adapting models, and anticipating impacts such as increases in reporting. Appropriate process and outcome metrics for these types of initiatives also were addressed.
The webinar was part of GNYHA’s yearlong Workplace Violence Prevention Learning Series, which explores the many aspects of this complex topic. To access materials and recordings from all programs in this series, please visit the learning series webpage.