Implementation of a Comprehensive Intervention to Reduce Physical Assaults and Threats in the Emergency Department

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a comprehensive program to reduce the incidence of workplace violence (WPV) against ED providers by patients and visitors.

Methods: An intervention study was conducted with 3 intervention and 3 comparison emergency departments. Participants completed monthly surveys during an 18-month period to measure violent event rates before and after the WPV intervention implementation. Descriptive statistics were used to describe violent events. Analysis of variance was used to assess if the emergency departments participating in the WPV intervention experienced a significant reduction in violence rates compared with nonintervention emergency departments.

Results: On average, participants experienced more than 6 incidents of violence during the 18-month study period. Although the study hypothesis was not supported, 2 intervention sites had a significant decrease in violence.

Discussion: This study emphasizes the risk of WPV to ED workers and highlights the need for prevention programs. Future research needs to be conducted to test additional comprehensive WPV prevention interventions.