Violence Prevention in the Workplace: Training for Nurses

The CDC released a free on-line course earlier this year to help healthcare workers better understand the scope and nature of violence in the healthcare workplace. Participants will learn how to recognize the key elements of a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program, how organizational systems impact workplace violence, how to apply individual strategies, and develop skills for preventing and responding to workplace violence. The multi-media training incorporates lesson text, videos depicting workplace violence incidents, testimonials from real nurses, and lesson quizzes. Nurses can also receive continuing education credits for completing the online course.

On average, over the last decade, U.S. healthcare workers have accounted for two-thirds of the nonfatal workplace violence injuries involving days away from work across all industries. These workers face the risk of both physical violence and non-physical violence, such as verbal abuse, on the job. NIOSH and partners found through their work that there is a lack of workplace violence prevention training being offered to nurses and other healthcare workers. This on-line course helps to fill this gap by providing a convenient, free way for nurses, as well as other healthcare workers, to gain this training and earn continuing education units.

“No worker should be afraid of violence in their workplace, especially those who commit their lives to the care and treatment of patients,” said Director John Howard, M.D. “This course shows how innovative ideas for developing trainings and strong partnerships can help to address this preventable workplace hazard.”

Focus groups and stakeholder meetings were used to develop and test the course content and design. The course is separated in to 13 units, each expected to take approximately 15 minutes to complete. It is also designed so that participants can restart the course where they last left it, allowing them the ability to manage their time when taking the course.

Begin taking the course on CDC's website.