کد مقاله | کد نشریه | سال انتشار | مقاله انگلیسی | نسخه تمام متن |
---|---|---|---|---|
3445270 | 1595318 | 2009 | 9 صفحه PDF | دانلود رایگان |
PurposeThis study examines changes in violent event rates to hospital employees before and after enactment of the California Hospital Safety and Security Act in 1995.MethodsWe compared pre- and post-initiative employee assault rates in California (n = 116) emergency departments and psychiatric units with those in New Jersey (n = 50), where statewide workplace violence initiatives do not exist. Poisson regression with generalized estimating equations was used to compare assault rates between a 3-year pre-enactment period (1993–1995) and a 6-year post-enactment period (1996–2001) using New Jersey hospitals as a temporal control.ResultsAssault rates among emergency department employees decreased 48% in California post-enactment, compared with emergency department employee assault rates in New Jersey (rate ratio [RR] = 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.31, 0.90). Emergency department employee assault rates decreased in smaller facilities (RR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.96) and for-profit-controlled hospitals (RR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.19, 0.79) post-enactment. Among psychiatric units, for-profit-controlled hospitals (RR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.19, 0.85) and hospitals located in smaller communities (RR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.92) experienced decreased assault rates post-enactment.ConclusionPolicy may be an effective method to increase safety to health care workers.
Journal: Annals of Epidemiology - Volume 19, Issue 2, February 2009, Pages 125–133