It’s an unsettling turnaround. In 2020, health providers were publicly applauded when they showed up – and donned PPE – at their hospitals. But today, their jobs put nurses and hospital staff at risk of injury or death. In fact, healthcare workers experience violence at five times the rate of other American workers. The causes of the increase in violence are many – frustration over long wait times; restrictions on visitors; and anger engendered by social media coverage of Covid, abortion and transgender issues, to name a few.
Sometimes the reasons for violence are unknown. Last month hospital security guard Bobby Smallwood, was shot and killed while on duty at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. As yet there is no explanation for why he was a victim, other than working at the hospital. It’s not surprising that some doctors, nurses, and medical staff report that they feel safer if they change out of scrubs before leaving the hospital campus.
Safe Ride Services for Hospital Staff
Nurses and other staff are at the highest risk of violence. Verbal abuse or intimidation are, sadly, very familiar to their daily experience. Patients and their families may act out when under stress or in pain. Hospital campuses are large, and people who pose a danger to themselves and others may not immediately leave the grounds. The sad reality is that, while patient safety has improved in the last decade, ensuring the safety of hospital staff remains a challenge.
Hospital security departments employ several ways to mitigate violence, including de-escalation training, weapons detection, and a stronger security presence. Some healthcare systems have implemented panic button apps for staff.
As hospital systems grow, new parking garages are situated further and further from the main campus. Staff may be relegated to remote parking lots; many work shifts that start or end in late night hours. One effective way to ensure that staff can safely travel on the hospital campus to public transit or their cars: an on-demand safe ride program.
TransLoc provides safe ride solutions for dozens of colleges and universities, and we can implement the same services to help make hospital campuses safer.
Visitors Need Safe Ride Too
Hospital visitors can benefit from safe ride shuttles too. Today’s hospitals are rarely a single building, but instead a hodgepodge of parking garages, annex buildings, and delivery and emergency vehicles zones. Navigating the campus on foot, especially for the elderly or outpatients, is dangerous. But on demand shuttle transportation can ensure visitors get to their destinations safely and on time. Contact us to learn more about implementing safe ride services at your hospital.