This week’s deadly mass shooting at a Tulsa medical campus did not come as a shock to many health care professionals in Nebraska. “Unfortunately, all of us are at risk for something like this to occur as we continue to see a significant rise in violence,” says Dr. Lisa Vail, Vice President of Patient Care Services and System Chief Nursing Officer at Bryan Health.
“Our ED staff are the most impacted as they care for patients coming in under the influence of drugs and alcohol, treating those with significant mental illness or those seeking medical attention as a result of an external violent act.”
Vail says violent incidents increased during the pandemic. She says many incidents involve people not wanting to comply with hospital policies for safety or infection prevention protocols, like masking or vaccination requirements.
“During COVID a national study showed 44 percent of nurses experienced physical violence and 68 percent experienced verbal abuse,” says Jeremy Nordquist, president of the Nebraska Hospitals Association.
Vail says last year many workers have missed work due to injuries from assaults. “Almost 60 percent of our employee related OSHA incidents for lost work hours from an employee were events related to violence against a health care worker.”
Friday, June 3 is a national day of awareness to end violence in hospitals. Officials with the Nebraska Hospitals Association and Nebraska Medical Association say in the wake of the recent mass shootings around the country they are committed to doing more to prevent violent incidents both inside health care facilities and in communities across the state.
“We continue to grieve for our children and our healthcare heroes who have been impacted and traumatized by the most recent string of mass shooting events in the U.S. Gun violence continues to impact the lives of Americans nationwide and is becoming a true public health crisis,” they said in a statement.
Both groups say they will use their collective voices to call for changes such as commonsense, responsible gun violence prevention. “Gun violence in our country is a true public health emergency that requires all of us to come together to put an end to the recent tragedies we’ve seen play out.”