Photo Credit: Gorodenkoff

Gun violence is a real threat in the physician workplace. Dr. Desai offers solutions for physicians to feel safer and more confident while administering care.

Violence in the medical workplace, particularly gun violence, has been on the rise for years.  According to Director of Hospital Medicine at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital, Dhaval Desai, MD, physicians must be mentally and emotionally prepared to face way more than the standard medical emergency. For example, Dr. Desai once found a man on the hallway floor near his office. Lying on top of blood, the man was holding an unlocked and loaded gun. This occurrence scarred Dr. Desai, leaving him with a growing concern regarding physician safety in the workplace.

An International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) Foundation healthcare crime survey found that “violent crime” experienced an increase from 2015 to 2021. Family physician and medical writer Kristen Fuller, MD attributes a meaningful amount of the rise in physician oriented gun violence to angry patients who subscribe to conspiracy theories and medical misinformation stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. The general rise in gun violence, coupled with a challenged medical system, has led to a dangerous workplace situation for physicians and other hospital workers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research found that 2021 saw more gun related fatalities than any other year on record. Another CDC study concluded that gun violence was amongst the top five fatality causes for people 44 and younger. This same study also found that gun violence was the number one cause of fatality among people 19 and younger.

Dr. Desai stresses that, in order for hospitals to confront gun violence in the workplace, a group effort needs to take shape. Everyone from physicians to patients to the government need to form a united front against it. Dr. Desai suggests addressing certain essentials areas, like security systems. Leveling up security systems with elements like surveillance cameras, metal detectors, and alarm systems can all help to better ensure a safer hospital environment. Another key area to address is communication channels. Instituting a system of rapid communication between physicians and staff, so that notification of any violent incident occurring in the hospital can be easily transmitted. Communication tools like text messaging and systemwide alarms can help keep people safe and connected. Hospitals need to instill a clear chain of command within their workplace, along with giving workers the tools to navigate dangerous situations. Even the best protection plan is ineffective if those in harm’s way don’t know how to navigate it. Educating people on how to respond to, activate an alarm, and properly follow a chain-of-command is vital.

There is certainly a nationwide movement to confront gun violence in hospitals. According to a Becker’s Hospital Review article, however, not all people are in favor of increased physical security measures like metal detectors, citing that such sizeable technologies might alter patient’s views of hospitals as being safe and welcoming environments. That same report mentioned that a mere 1% of hospital patrons reported decreased likelihood of going back to a hospital emergency department if that location had a metal detector. Healthcare leaders are investing large sums of money to ensure safety. The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Medicine is investing $28 million in placing weapons detection systems at the entryways of numerous hospitals and other healthcare facilities. States like Georgia, Michigan, and New York have launched initiatives to protect healthcare workers. The Safer Hospital Act instituted in Georgia allows measures like a private hospital police force and lets certified hospital security possess guns. In Michigan, one new law doubles penalties and fines for assaulting a healthcare worker. In New York, the State University of New York Upstate Medical University opted to employ “workplace violence coordinators.”

The bottom line is, healthcare workers need more robust actions to ensure their safety on the job. Dr. Desai emphasizes the necessity of increasing safety measures to make sure the US can operate within a thriving medical system.