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 Emergency Department is the primary care provider for patients suffering behavioral or substance abuse diagnoses in most communities. The ED is a treatment setting that is often not designed for staff to safely manage this population.

This presentation focuses on the inherent risks related to the care of behavioral patients in the ED and strategies that can work to prevent harm to both patients and staff. It will also provide helpful tools attendees can utilize in their organizations to assist in risk mitigation.

• Identify the degree to which behavioral health patients present in the ED.
• Describe the major risks associated with behavioral health patients in the ED.
• Discuss strategies to mitigate the risk of harm to staff and patients in the ED.

Click to view the presentation slides used in the Safe Management of Behavioral Health Patients in the ED Presentation webinar.

This resource is an assessment tool for healthcare providers to determine suicide risk in adult patients.

A depression screening assessment to determine the level of a patient’s depression.

Click to view the presentation slides used in the Suicide Prevention of High-Risk Behavioral Patients webinar.

The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale is provided in both the full and brief version as a suicide risk screening tool. This short version rating scale assesses patients at risk for suicide that may enter a setting such as the emergency room, quickly identifying patients who are actively suicidal or experiencing suicidal thoughts.

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.