While healthcare organizations increasingly recognize and address patient and visitor aggression, a more insidious form of workplace violence often remains unacknowledged: lateral violence between colleagues. This phenomenon—characterized by behaviors like bullying, sabotage, exclusion, and verbal attacks among peers—creates significant psychological harm while undermining team function, patient...
“Post-Incident Recovery: The Forgotten Skill” — Episode 27
Co-host: Marcus—former healthcare security director
Co-host: Natalie—nurse practitioner and clinical team leader
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts
“The Power of the Universal Greeting” — Episode 26
Co-host: Marcus—former healthcare security director
Co-host: Natalie—nurse practitioner and clinical team leader
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts
“Context: Setting the Stage for Improved Patient Interactions” — Episode 25
Co-host: Marcus—former healthcare security director
Co-host: Natalie—nurse practitioner and clinical team leader
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts
Healthcare organizations universally include respect and dignity in their core values. Walk through any hospital lobby, and you'll likely see these words prominently displayed on mission statements and value posters. Yet for many institutions, there remains a significant gap between these aspirational statements and the lived experience of staff and patients.
The challenge isn't in writing...
“Staying Safe Starts with Your Voice” — Episode 24
Co-host: Marcus—former healthcare security director
Co-host: Natalie—nurse practitioner and clinical team leader
Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts
Healthcare leaders track countless metrics – patient satisfaction scores, length of stay, readmission rates, and financial indicators. Yet one of the most critical metrics often remains unmeasured: safety-related behaviors and perceptions among staff and patients.
When we discuss safety in healthcare, conversations typically center around clinical outcomes and patient harm events. While these...
In healthcare environments, personal protective equipment (PPE) is non-negotiable. No responsible clinician would examine a patient with a highly contagious disease without donning the appropriate gloves, gown, mask, or even powered air-purifying respirators when necessary. These physical barriers protect healthcare workers from biological threats that could cause serious harm.
But what about...
When healthcare organizations assess workplace safety risks, their focus typically lands on patient-to-staff violence, environmental hazards, or procedural errors. Yet one of the most pervasive safety threats often goes unaddressed in traditional safety initiatives: lateral violence—the disrespect, hostility, and aggression that occurs between colleagues.
As we observe National Safety Month this...
While discussions of healthcare workplace violence often focus on patient and visitor aggression, a more insidious form of violence silently damages psychological health throughout healthcare organizations. Lateral violence—the pattern of harmful behaviors directed by healthcare workers toward their peers—exacts a tremendous mental health toll while undermining organizational effectiveness,...
