Introduction to Workplace Violence in Healthcare
The healthcare industry has seen a major rise in workplace violence, with health care employees being five times more prone to experience violence than employees in other industries. This can range from verbal abuse to physical violence, causing stress and pain for each the employees and the patients. Emergency room physicians and staff are particularly vulnerable to patient aggression on account of the high-stress environment of emergency room visits.
The Impact of Workplace Violence on Healthcare Workers
Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the alarming rate of workplace violence within the healthcare industry. A 2022 survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians found that 85% of emergency physicians reported a rise in violent activity of their ERs prior to now five years, with two-thirds of the nearly 3,000 emergency room doctors surveyed reporting being assaulted prior to now 12 months. The ongoing exposure to workplace violence is detrimental to the mental and physical health of healthcare employees, making it essential to search out higher ways to deal with this issue.
Developing a Virtual Reality Training Tool
To combat workplace violence, Dr. Gilberto Salazar of UT Southwestern and Dr. Todd Polk of UT Dallas partnered to develop an progressive virtual reality (VR) training tool. The tool places physicians inside a virtual hospital examination room, where they’ll practice proven de-escalation tactics in realistic patient encounters. The VR program features a vest and gloves with haptic feedback, mimicking the feeling of touch, together with the VR headset, allowing the user to "feel" what is occurring.
The Training Curriculum and Development
The evidence-based training curriculum was developed by three UTSW Emergency Medicine residents – Andrew Stratton, M.D., Maria Box, M.D., and Philip Jarrett, M.D. – and drawn from a broad range of disciplines, including emergency medicine, nursing, psychiatry, and pharmacology. The curriculum includes instructions on the way to recognize the early signs of aggression and de-escalate a situation involving an aggressive individual. The team partnered with UT Dallas’ UTDesign Program to design the tool, which was awarded a $10,000 Simulation Innovation Award from UT Southwestern for further development.
Future Developments and Implementation
The project has received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval to further study healthcare workplace violence and compare the tool’s effectiveness with other training methods. The next iteration of the VR training module is being developed by Austin-based Augmented Training Systems and shall be used for the IRB study. The tool has the potential to turn out to be a key element in training physicians and staff at UT Southwestern and elsewhere, helping to cut back workplace violence within the healthcare industry.
Conclusion
The development of the virtual reality training tool is a major step towards addressing the rising issue of workplace violence within the healthcare industry. By providing healthcare employees with the talents and training to acknowledge and reply to potentially violent patient encounters, the tool has the potential to cut back the danger of violence and create a safer working environment. As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, it is important to prioritize the security and well-being of healthcare employees, and progressive solutions just like the VR training tool are crucial to achieving this goal.
