Name
#188 Improving Nurse Safety: Insights from VHA’s Office of Nursing Services 2023 Nurse Safety and Workplace Violence Review
Speakers
Content Presented on Behalf of
VHA/VA
Services/Agencies represented
Veterans Health Administration/Veterans Affairs (VHA/VA)
Session Type
Posters
Room#/Location
Prince Georges Exhibit Hall A/B
Focus Areas/Topics
Behavioral and Mental Health, Policy/Management/Administrative, Trending/Hot Topics or Other not listed
Learning Outcomes
1. Describe the VHA’S Office of Nursing services efforts to understand the system response to workplace violence and nurse safety.
2. Identify new and improved data sources that organizations can use to quantify incidence, prevalence and cost of workplace violence
3. Discuss system interventions and training in use or in development to address nurses safety and workplace violence
2. Identify new and improved data sources that organizations can use to quantify incidence, prevalence and cost of workplace violence
3. Discuss system interventions and training in use or in development to address nurses safety and workplace violence
Session Currently Live
Description
This poster presents the results of the 2023 enterprise-level review and whitepaper from the Office of Nursing Services (ONS) within Veterans Healthcare Affairs. It outlines how establishing a baseline of system efforts facilitated the creation of communication channels between ONS and various VA stakeholders. We will showcase VHA’s initiatives to enhance nurse safety, this includes the development of training modules by the Nursing Mental Health Field Advisory Committee. The poster will also detail the creation of innovative, nurse-sensitive indicators and real-time system tools applicable beyond nursing to all VA occupational codes. Notably, it features the inaugural VA Workman’s Comp Report using Department of Labor (DOL) data to quantify the cost of workplace violence and the Nursing Workplace Violence Dashboard and Real-Time Alert system. Additionally, the poster explores how the Office of Nursing Services has established pathways for continuous improvement and how these new indicators are adaptable across different occupations. It also covers 50 recommendations for enhancing nurse safety, including the inclusion of nursing on the Under Secretary of Health Workplace Violence Prevention Technical Advisory Group (TAG), hosting a Workplace Violence State of the Art Conference (SOTA), establishing a Forensic Nursing Field Advisory Committee and Board, and chartering a Nursing Workforce Strategic Plan Project to develop a national Workplace Violence and Employee Wellness Guidebook for nurses. These strategies not only offer significant advancements in nurse safety within the VA but also provide broadly applicable methods for other healthcare systems and occupations. Future directions will build on these initiatives to further improve safety and well-being across healthcare environments.