Verbal/Physical Abuse of Employees

Purpose

Date of Last Review 4/2/07
SME: Director of Nursing

The purpose of this procedure is to clarify behavior expectations for all staff members including medical staff.

Policy

It is UTHCPC policy that the environment in which healthcare workers provide care should be safe and supportive to all workers regardless of discipline or position title. To this end:

All employees are expected to maintain standards of conduct suitable and acceptable in the workplace, see HOOP 2.01, General Standards of Conduct

Verbal and/or physical abuse is not tolerated under any circumstance

Definitions

See the following for definitions of verbal and physical abuse.

Verbal abuse is the use of:

Verbal threats

Abusive language

Cursing

Loud, hostile tone which includes yelling

Physical abuse is:

Hitting

Pushing

Grabbing

Restricting movement

Threatening

Attempting or causing injury to another person on the premises

Reporting employee abuse

If a staff member feels that she/he is a victim of verbal/physical abuse, she/he is to report such to her/his supervisor immediately in writing. The Occurrence Report may be used for this purpose as desired.

Investigating employee abuse

The following steps are involved in investigating employee abuse issues:

Step	Action
1	The supervisor begins an investigation immediately upon receipt of the employee's written report.
2	When possible the supervisor: Encourages staff members to provide feedback directly Attempts to resolve the issues between the staff members involved
3	Should the employee not feel comfortable directly addressing the co-worker, the supervisor intervenes at the employee's request.
4	The staff members and their respective supervisors meet to attempt to resolve the issue.
5	Supervisors may refer staff members to HOOP 2.58 Problem Solving/Conflict Resolution with the staff member's agreement.
6	The supervisor is expected to follow UTHCPC disciplinary procedures to address confirmed verbal/physical abuse. See HOOP 5.13 Disciplinary Actions and UTHCPC procedure, Employee Counseling and Supervision.

Reference

HOOP 2.61 Violence Free Workplace

Related standard

JCAHO HR 1

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