Abuse in the Workplace: What Can Nurses Do?

While accurately naming the problem is the first step in beginning to address the problem of abuse in the workplace, the following documents provide a next step in initiating discussions with management about introducing changes to decrease abuse in health care settings:

The Registered Nursing Association of British Columbia (RNABC), has developed a useful document; Guidelines for Developing a Quality Practice Environment which can be found at here. It is a tool for nurses to begin to work with their agency in identifying changes to enhance nurses' safety and introducing elements necessary for an environment where equality and advocacy is created for staff as well as patients.

The former Vancouver/Richmond Health Board developed a framework for women-centred care that offers a template for understanding elements that would improve the health and safety of women in workplaces. Click here for the Women-Centred Framework.

The Standards for Nursing Practice for your professional body provide a method of identifying how nursing practice indicators are affected by actions within the environment. These may be found at:

http://www.rnabc.bc.ca/pdf/Standards_2003.pdf
http://www.clpnbc.org/pdf/StandardsOfPracticeAndCompetencies_Outline.pdf
http://www.crpnbc.ca/standards_ethics.pdf

The Workers Compensation Board has developed Guidelines for Violence in the Workplace which can be a useful guide for beginning to work toward making change and developing a policy within healthcare agencies.