As a nurse I have done all I can to protect myself from hazards at work. By vaccination, personal protective gear and extreme hand washing I feel I’m in a safe little cocoon. Little did I know I could expect my personal safety to be at risk!
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that healthcare workers are at a markedly increased risk for WORKPLACE VIOLENCE. From 2002 to 2013 violent incidents (those serious enough to require days off to recuperate) were “four times more common in healthcare than in private industry” (Caring for Caregivers, OSHA website).
The majority of the incidents (80%) were from patients! The people we come to work every day to care for and for whom our job is to make more comfortable and healthy. Please keep in mind that theses are incidents that were serious enough to 1. be reported and 2. require days off be taken afterwards.
So if you are reading this, thank a healthcare provider in your life. If there’s not one in your life, find one and thank him/her for risking their personal safety to help others feel better!
Nurse Meesh 
This is so scary. I never would have thought this would be a high rated place for workplace violence.
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