Campaign targets workplace violence

As we transition from National Nurses Week to National Hospital Week alongside Mother’s Day, the “My Mommy Works Here” campaign will serve as a reminder to patients and visitors that that’s not just a nurse providing you care – that’s someone’s mother, father or friend

SCHA is equipping hospitals with customizable resources, such as posters, social media content and policy templates, aimed at encouraging respectful behavior by patients and visitors. The communications resources convey two equally important messages:

• No-nonsense, zero tolerance statements that aggressive behavior may result in removal from the premises, jail time and fines, and

• Gentle reminders that caregivers are someone’s family member or best friend and should be treated with kindness.

Nationwide, healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than any other profession, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls workplace violence a public health concern that contributes to staffing shortages, increased healthcare costs, and workforce burnout and turnover.

“Hospitals are working to enhance facility security and increase reporting and prosecution of incidents, but we need the public’s help in understanding the impact of violence on healthcare worker burnout and the potential danger to the quality of patient care and ability to deliver critical health services to the people of South Carolina,” said Schipp Ames, SCHA Vice President of Strategic Marketing & Communications. “These communications resources will give hospitals more tools to protect the people who are caring for all of us. Every day they go to work, South Carolina’s hospital workers make a commitment to Do No Harm. We need to make that same commitment to them.”

The communications campaign is part of a broader SCHA initiative to address hospital workplace violence that also includes advocacy for state support, incident data collection and analysis, educational programs, and sharing of hospital best practices. Learn more and access the communications tools at donoharmsc.com.