Healthcare Safety Toolkit Library

Violence in healthcare has escalated over the years and constitutes approximately 74% of workplace violence events reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is imperative that organizational leaders develop plans to prevent violence and train staff to identify and de-escalate violent behaviors as well as respond appropriately when an event occurs. This toolkit contains many resources to help facilitate the development of comprehensive violence prevention programs within your organization.

Maternal health encompasses the health of the pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period in women’s healthcare. Healthcare provider’s goals in maternal care are to reduce morbidity and mortality by providing safe, quality services to the mother and her baby. This objective can be accomplished by identifying risks, educating patients and following recommended guidelines of evidence-based practice. This toolkit supplies resources to benefit in the improvement of maternal health.

The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale full version is an assessment tool that provides an in-depth evaluation for patients at risk for suicide. The full version rating scale identifies patients who are actively suicidal or experiencing suicidal thoughts in a way that is more time-consuming. This tool is best suited for an environment conducive to this type of assessment such as an inpatient psychiatric stay.

Debriefing helps healthcare workers and the patient evaluate a crisis situation and plan to avoid future episodes throughout the patient’s stay. Interventions such as debriefing sessions with patients post-violent episodes help to prevent reoccurring violence. This resource is a post-incident debriefing form to assist healthcare professionals in finding alternatives to aggressive or dangerous behaviors through the use of debriefing. This checklist provides the steps for conducting a debriefing interview and provides a guide to open communication.

Is your organization using security officers as sitters or one-on-one observers? If so, be sure your staff are appropriately trained and competent in the tasks being delegated to them. HC Pro’s Hospital Safety Center has released an article detailing the pitfalls of such assignments.

This document provides guidelines for sitters who observe patients identified as a danger to themselves and others. The form is an education tool for sitters to make them aware of expectations while they are sitting with the patient, including when to notify the nurse immediately. These guidelines are an important resource to help maintain a safe environment of care for patients.

These guidelines describe what healthcare providers should do when a pediatric patient screens positive for suicide risk.

A script for nursing staff to help explain the condition of their minor child to parents/guardians.

Although it is healthcare's goal to maintain a safe environment at all times, violence remains a significant concern today. It is vital to implement processes to prevent workplace violence. Security practices can include an array of methods. The following documents provide best practices and alternative approaches that may be applied when handling violent encounters.

Reducing the risk of encountering an active shooter situation is important to any business, especially healthcare. These resources provide tools on how to plan what to do in the event of an active shooter/violent situation.

Acitve shooter events are increasing more and more across the U.S. and the experts have developed tools to help the lay person identify a potential active shooter as a risk reduction strategy.

Healthcare organizations should take the possiblity of an active shooter event occuring in their facility very seriously. These resources provide key tactics on managing violent and disruptive behavior as a risk reduction process.

Active shooter training is vital for all staff in a healthcare organization as they are the eyes and ears of the facility. These resources help ensure staff are trained and prepared to address violent/aggressive behavior/situations.