We all have a role in making hospitals safe spaces for care. Help us help you.
Hospital care teams are available 24-7-365 to provide care — oftentimes in patients’ scariest or most painful moments. Violent and disruptive behavior harms caregivers’ ability to help. We need patients, family and visitors to Help Us Help You.
Too often, members of the hospital team face violence during their workday. Health care workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than other workers. Violence can compromise care and caregiver morale, and affects staff well-being, patient outcomes and community trust.
We’re sharing stories from Missouri hospital workers to help build awareness of the challenges they face.
Every person who enters a hospital — whether caregiver, patient or visitor — should understand the expectations for behavior in care settings. Being hospitalized or having a loved one in the hospital can be stressful, and it’s OK to be anxious. However, the following behaviors are never acceptable.
- Spitting, shoving, kicking, hitting, slapping, grabbing or improperly touching caregivers
- Shouting, cursing, threats and other forms of verbal abuse toward members of your care team or other hospital staff
Violence in a hospital is illegal. Creating a peace disturbance, refusing to leave when ordered, threatening to inflict physical harm or assaulting a health care worker is against the law in Missouri.
Health care workers need your support to provide care. Without a healing environment, it can be difficult to provide the care patients need and deserve.
Here’s how to Help Us Help You
- Ask questions about your care, especially if you don’t understand something. Open, respectful dialogue between patients and caregivers is important.
- Share your feedback. Feedback helps health care facilities and caregivers improve.
Hospitals should be safe spaces for healing. You can share the message: Help Us Help You.