A Commitment to Workplace Safety
Care team members were trained in planning and workplace violence prevention skills this year, including in-person training on de-escalation and non-violent crisis intervention.
A Commitment to Workplace Safety
Care team members were trained in planning and workplace violence prevention skills this year, including in-person training on de-escalation and non-violent crisis intervention.
Safety Focus Heightens with Workplace Violence Prevention Programming
The increased concern of workplace violence in health care is an international trend, and one that MaineHealth is taking seriously. MaineHealth both expanded its programming on workplace violence prevention (WVP) over the last year and heightened focus by including measurable targets in the system’s FY24 Strategic Plan for the first time ever.
The creation of a system-level Workplace Violence Prevention Steering Committee in summer 2023 aligned and strengthened efforts across MaineHealth. In early 2024, MaineHealth hired accomplished security professional Randy Stephan as the system’s first Vice President of Security Services, adding additional expertise and vision.
“The work that’s been done here is incredible, and there is a strong desire to continuously improve,” said Stephan. “Our approach will be to build our programs from the point of care back and connect it coherently to leading practices and strategy. In the end, the goal is to effectively balance patient safety and rights with care team member safety and rights to create the safest environment possible. To be successful, we need to do both extremely well.”
Our North Star: To Make the Safest Care Giving Environment Possible
Randy Stephan, VP of Security Services, and Andy Mueller, CEO, discuss workplace violence prevention during a care team member Q&A session.
Efforts undertaken in FY24 by the multi-disciplinary System Steering Committee resulted in important achievements that established a firm foundation for continued improvement across MaineHealth, including:
- Internal Assessments: The committee deployed comprehensive toolkits that enabled MaineHealth organizations to conduct WVP/Security assessments in fulfillment of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Joint Commission requirements.
- Reporting: Work done with MaineHealth Patient Safety & Risk Management produced a valuable new workflow that makes it easier for care team members to report incidents of workplace violence, while also providing better data to help recognize actionable areas to drive further improvement.
- Training: Over 600 care team members were trained in practical WVP skills, including the “run, hide, fight” curriculum, aimed at surviving potential active shooter situations. An additional 1,000 care team members completed in-person training on de-escalation and non-violent crisis intervention.
- Plain Language Alerts: MaineHealth moved from a color-code method of announcing emergency incidents to a plain language model, following best practices in the industry. This change removes ambiguity and confusion from the alert system and is intended to contribute to clarity, confidence, and the ability to make better-informed safety decisions.
Next Steps
The MaineHealth WVP System Steering Committee is building on the success of previous task forces by expanding work in six key areas: Optimizing Site-Based Committees; Training; Measurement; Reducing Workplace Violence Precipitants; Risk Assessment & Mitigation; and Integration of Leading Practices in Behavioral Threat Assessment & Management.
“Unity of effort is essential. I am both enthused and gratified to see that system leaders, regional leaders, site leaders and care team members from all functional areas are viewing workplace violence prevention efforts as in direct alignment with the vision of MaineHealth, as we all work together so our communities are the safest in America,” Stephan added.
Point of focus: How do we treat the day before like the day after?
Audio except from Episode 43 of the MaineHealth Working Together podcast. Listen to the full audio.