Healthcare Staff Safety Training

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather the ability to resolve conflict without violence.”

C.T. Lawrence Butler

When it comes to workplace conflict, there are two approaches:

• Fan the flame
• Extinguish the flame

Many well-meaning people fuel a conflict when their goal is actually to defuse it. And in today’s volatile workplace environment, that can lead to a crisis. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, more than 2 million Americans experience workplace violence each year.

• 2 hours of classroom instruction focused on communication, safety awareness, recognition and de-escalation of real world workplace violence situations.
• Unlimited class size.

No one wants to add to those statistics.

Often, it comes down to a lack of training. And that’s the good news. Many conflicts can be
minimized or avoided with education.

Our Conflict Management and De-Escalation course helps managers and employees:

• Recognize the signs of a potential conflict
• Treat all people with dignity and respect
• Recognize signs of aggression
• Reduce risk
• Tactically position yourself for a safe interaction
• Professionally conduct interviews in a neutral, objective manner
• De-escalate aggression
• Turn a negative interaction into a positive one

Strategos International has shared these principles with:

• Airport personnel
• U.S. government agencies
• Health care staff
• Workplaces in diverse industries

Let us know how we can help you remove unnecessary conflict from your workplace and
free up energy for more productive tasks.

S.A.F.E.™ Approach for Healthcare (Level 1) – Recognizing and Diffusing Conflict and Aggression, Safety Awareness, Interpersonal Communication, and Customer Service

The S.A.F.E. Approach™ is an exciting training program designed specifically for those in the healthcare field where the effective use of verbal and non-verbal communication skills can reduce the risk of negative or violent encounters with patients, visitors and co-workers.

The S.A.F.E. Approach offers nursing contact hours for Levels I, II, & III. This continuing nursing education activity was approved by the Midwest Multistate Division, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

At the heart of The S.A.F.E. Approach is the concept of recognizing potentially hazardous situations and mitigating their impact, all while treating individuals with dignity and respect – a key component. We know that compassion, empathy and a comprehensive understanding of human behavior can resolve or even prevent most conflicts. It\’s only on rare occasion that an individual must resort to some form of defensive posture or response, but it’s this key component of our training that separates The S.A.F.E. Approach from many others: our simple, effective and easy to remember methods for enhancing personal safety.

About the Program

The S.A.F.E. Approach™ is an exciting training program designed specifically for those in the healthcare field where the effective use of verbal and non-verbal communication skills can reduce the risk of negative or violent encounters with patients, visitors and co-workers.

The S.A.F.E. Approach offers nursing contact hours for Levels I, II, & III. This continuing nursing education activity was approved by the Midwest Multistate Division, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

At the heart of The S.A.F.E. Approach is the concept of recognizing potentially hazardous situations and mitigating their impact, all while treating individuals with dignity and respect – a key component. We know that compassion, empathy and a comprehensive understanding of human behavior can resolve or even prevent most conflicts. It\’s only on rare occasion that an individual must resort to some form of defensive posture or response, but it’s this key component of our training that separates The S.A.F.E. Approach from many others: our simple, effective and easy to remember methods for enhancing personal safety.

Why S.A.F.E?

There’s no question that those in the healthcare industry are experiencing an ever increasing responsibility to care for and protect their staff, patients and visitors. The Occupational Safety and Health Act mandates that, in addition to compliance with hazard-specific standards, all employers have a general duty to provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Not only must you concern yourself with quality medical care, but you also have a duty to protect these individuals from physical harm.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 60 percent of all non-fatal injuries from occupational assaults and violent acts occur on health care and social service workers. Further, these acts occur most often in hospitals, nursing and personal care facilities, and residential care services.

Quite frankly, there are a number of considerations you face in bringing a complete workplace violence reduction program to your healthcare facility. From civil and criminal law to satisfying medical surveyors, each of these requirements has costs associated with them, both in staff training and curriculum expense. As the industry strives to minimize expenses and better manage assets, administrators are looking for programs that are cost-effective and yet provide excellent training and resources to assist in protecting all who enter their facilities.

This is why The S.A.F.E. Approach method was developed; to provide administrators, security directors and others peace of mind in knowing that their staff – at all levels – have been trained in effective methods of resolving conflict. As you familiarize yourself with our program, you will see that we have extensive experience in conflict resolution.

The word Safe in The S.A.F.E. Approach tends to speak for itself; however, to further define our program, we use the acronym S.A.F.E. as follows:

• S – Safety
  The S.A.F.E. Approach™ method has the safety or everyone in mind. Those who participate in our training learn techniques that will keep them safe and others as well.
• A – Attitude
  It’s been said that, “We can’t control others actions; we can only control our own!” While this may be true in many encounters, we believe that our own attitude plays an important role in any encounter and has a strong influence on the attitude of others.
• F – Focus
  In order to be effective, we must maintain focus on the techniques taught. As we all are aware, habits form when we repeat routines of behavior. Done enough, these habits become subconscious activities.
• E – Empathy
  Empathy has been defined as “the capacity to recognize, and to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another.” It is an important component of The S.A.F.E. Approach™ method.

The Curriculum:

The S.A.F.E. Approach offers nursing contact hours for Levels I, II, & III. This continuing nursing education activity was approved by the Midwest Multistate Division, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

We are fully aware of the demands placed on staff member’s time. Every moment spent in training is time away from their ever important tasks. Therefore, our goal is to effectively train your staff, do so in a timely manner, and provide you with peace of mind knowing that your co-workers have the tools necessary to make sound competent decisions.

As you’ll notice, testing is an important component at each level. In order for the organization and The S.A.F.E. Approach to validate the learning process, each participant is tested on key information contained in their training. While not extremely difficult, this testing provides important feedback to the instructor and the organization as to the quality of instruction and materials and provides important feedback to administrators. Additionally, all students in Level II and Level III training receive handouts that are theirs to keep. This ensures that participants are afforded the opportunity to refer back to the techniques they have learned as needed.

There are generally three levels of training using The S.A.F.E. Approach method:

Level I (2 hours of CEU credit provided)

Level I is a 2-hour block of instruction designed for those staff members who rarely, if ever, have care responsibility of patients. These individuals usually include office staff, phone operators, maintenance workers, housekeeping, food services, etc.

Level I training includes topics such as:

• Customer Service
• Interpersonal Communication
• Safety Awareness, and
• Recognizing and Diffusing Conflict and Aggression
• Level II (4 hours of CEU credit provided)

Level II instruction is designed for those staff members who have responsibilities that include frequent patient contact. These individuals would include doctors, nurses, aides, technicians and others. Level II training includes Level I topics and adds two additional hours of instruction, for a total of four hours of training.

Many of the topics covered in Level II are taught in Level I. However, this level has the added component of Personal Safety Measures. We instruct the participant on how to protect themselves and potentially those around them before, during or after there has been a failure in communication.

Level II training includes topics such as:

• Customer Service
• Interpersonal Communication
• Recognizing and Diffusing Conflict and Aggression
• Personal Safety Measures
• How to avoid being trapped in a room
• Planning for escape as a matter of routine, before it’s too late
• How to quickly and effectively escape when you are hit, grabbed, knocked to the ground or in some way physically assaulted
• We routinely receive positive feedback on this training. Not only do the participants often express their gratitude for the knowledge they receive, but they also appreciate their employer affording them this opportunity.

Level III (8 hours of CEU credit provided)

Includes Level I and II with four additional hours added (8 hours, total) designed for those staff members who may or may not have frequent patient contact; however, they are often tasked with controlling and/or stabilizing disruptive or violent persons. Depending on your facility, these individuals may include both medical and non-medical staff members. This task may not only be hazardous for the patient and staff member, but it can open the organization to significant legal exposure if not performed and documented correctly. This training is especially important if your facility is confronted with situations involving trauma, mental illness, the elderly or drug and alcohol abuse.

Level III training encompasses all of the topics taught in Level II, but with the added component of restraint. One key component of this training is the team approach. Rather than rushing in with either no plan or a rather weak plan, we show participants how and why a careful, coordinated approach – utilizing proper communication and physical technique – will result in a successful restraint with minimal injury and complaint.

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather the ability to resolve conflict without violence.”

C.T. Lawrence Butler

When it comes to workplace conflict, there are two approaches:

• Fan the flame
• Extinguish the flame

Many well-meaning people fuel a conflict when their goal is actually to defuse it. And in today’s volatile workplace environment, that can lead to a crisis. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, more than 2 million Americans experience workplace violence each year.

• 2 hours of classroom instruction focused on communication, safety awareness, recognition and de-escalation of real world workplace violence situations.
• Level III builds upon the skills learned in Levels I and II.
• 4 additional hours of training focused team skills that stabilize and control a violent individual who is a danger to themselves or others.
• Typical Level III students are safety and/or security officers.
• 20:1 student to instructor ratio.
• No one wants to add to those statistics.
• Often, it comes down to a lack of training. And that’s the good news. Many conflicts can be minimized or avoided with education.

Our Conflict Management and De-Escalation course helps managers and employees:

• Recognize the signs of a potential conflict
• Treat all people with dignity and respect
• Recognize signs of aggression
• Reduce risk
• Tactically position yourself for a safe interaction
• Professionally conduct interviews in a neutral, objective manner
• De-escalate aggression
• Turn a negative interaction into a positive one

Strategos International has shared these principles with:

• Airport personnel
• U.S. government agencies
• Health care staff
• Workplaces in diverse industries

Let us know how we can help you remove unnecessary conflict from your workplace and free up energy for more productive tasks.

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but rather the ability to resolve conflict without violence.”

C.T. Lawrence Butler

When it comes to workplace conflict, there are two approaches:

• Fan the flame
• Extinguish the flame

Many well-meaning people fuel a conflict when their goal is actually to defuse it. And in today’s volatile workplace environment, that can lead to a crisis. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, more than 2 million Americans experience workplace violence each year.

• 2 hours of classroom instruction focused on communication, safety awareness, recognition and de-escalation of real world workplace violence situations.
• Level II builds upon the skills learned in Level I.
• 2 additional hours of training focused on self-protection physical skills while calling for staff and/or security rescue.
• Designed for employees and staff with a high level of public interaction.
• 20:1 student to instructor ratio.

No one wants to add to those statistics.

Often, it comes down to a lack of training. And that’s the good news. Many conflicts can be minimized or avoided with education.

Our Conflict Management and De-Escalation course helps managers and employees:

• Recognize the signs of a potential conflict
• Treat all people with dignity and respect
• Recognize signs of aggression
• Reduce risk
• Tactically position yourself for a safe interaction
• Professionally conduct interviews in a neutral, objective manner
• De-escalate aggression
• Turn a negative interaction into a positive one

Strategos International has shared these principles with:

• Airport personnel
• U.S. government agencies
• Health care staff
• Workplaces in diverse industries

Let us know how we can help you remove unnecessary conflict from your workplace and free up energy for more productive tasks.

The objectives and topics covered during this training provide workplace leaders, administrators, supervisors, human resource personnel, security and front line personnel with information and strategies on recognizing and responding to the violent intruder.

If the event were to occur what would the impact be to our customers, employees and culture? And how does “preparing in advance” assist in either preventing the event or mitigating the impact if it were to occur.

The overall goal of this training program is to provide the course participant with guiding principles and strategies to recognize behavioral pre-cursors to threatening and potentially violent incidents and then to respond accordingly.

Participants will learn to:

• Recognize the frequency of incidents of intruder related violence in the workplace
• Physiological & Psychological “pros vs. cons” of “trained vs. untrained” employees
• Identify and recognize risk factors that are inherent to the workplace
• Recognize on-duty law enforcement capabilities/limitations in responding to these types of incidents
• Understand and accept that the violent intruder event will most likely be over PRIOR to law enforcement arrival or as the intruder becomes aware of law enforcement presence
• Understanding the importance of awareness, education and training for front line personnel
• Attacker/Intruder psychological worldview, goals and motivations
• Understand and implement principles of LOCKDOWN – “preventing access” vs. “delayed egress” in the workplace
• Understand and implement principles of LOCKDOWN FAILURE “preventing access failure” via the “3 OUT RESPONSE MODEL”
• Behavior & Body Language Indicators/Pre-cursors that could escalate to violence
• Introduction to Behavior Risk Assessments
• High Risk Termination Criteria & Best Practices
• Recognize and understand phenomenon of “Normalcy Bias” and training relative to overcoming this phenomenon
• Understand sensory based decision making and how it affects proper and improper response to the crisis

Training includes classroom lecture, instructor walkthrough, demonstration and Q&A’s as well as realistic scenario based training that activates the “sympathetic nervous system”. Activating the SNS in training has proven most effective in preparing staff and personnel for response beyond the level of “lockdown” only and truly gives them the capacity to mitigate and prevail in this “worse case scenario.” Curriculum includes not only lockdown training but also “lockdown failure” response principles.

Who Should Attend – Human Resource Directors, Managers/Supervisors, C-Suite Personnel

Description

Have you had an employee that co-workers or supervisors were concerned about their behavior related to potential violence or self-harm? Has progressive discipline related to decreased performance now reached the point of a separation or termination of an employee?

No single behavioral indicator (other than direct threats) is an accurate predictor of the potential for future violence. As bad as missing behavioral risk indicators is unfairly labeling someone a risk when they really are not.

This course will allow the participant to transition from a subjective opinion about predictive potential of future violence or self-harm to an objective assessment of a current or former employee. Many times, employees or supervisors will “assess” or voice their concerns based on a statement like “I have a bad feeling about how Jim is going to handle this corrective action or termination.” When asked if they can be more specific, they really cannot provide more objective information that will allow the organization to determine if this will be handled as a “high-risk termination” or not.

Topics Covered

• Victim vs. Victimizer Worldview
• Aggravating vs. Protective Behavioral Factors
• Cluster and Singular Risk Factors
• Risk Assessment Scoring
• Subjective Opinion vs. Objective Assessments