Building a Culture of Safety: Mitigating Violence in Healthcare Settings-Video Violence in Healthcare Settings

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The webinar, hosted by the Trauma Center Association of America, focused on building a culture of safety and mitigating workplace violence in healthcare. Facilitator Nick Doherty introduced Dr. Jason Stapira, who shared his path from emergency medicine and EMS leadership to becoming a health system executive overseeing public safety and workplace violence mitigation.<br /><br />Dr. Stapira described how a colleague’s assault in 2022 led him to take on violence prevention efforts at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and later Advocate Health. He emphasized that workplace violence mitigation must include prevention, response, and reducing harm. He outlined a structured enterprise model with councils, core teams, shared metrics, threat assessment processes, and public safety strategy.<br /><br />Key topics included weapon detection, canine screening, duress systems, body cameras, aggression screening tools such as STAMP, DASA, and BARS, behavior agreements with patients, and the importance of reporting incidents. He stressed that clinical staff, especially physicians, must address escalation early, not ignore agitation, and work closely with public safety as part of the healthcare team.<br /><br />In Q&A, he discussed the legal value of behavior agreements, approaches for patients with TBI who may not be able to consent, and how to support pressing charges after assaults. He concluded by urging attendees to find leadership champions who can drive meaningful organizational change.

Keywords

workplace violence

healthcare safety

violence mitigation

public safety

behavioral agreements

threat assessment

aggression screening

incident reporting

health system leadership