Knowledge of relevant workplace laws and necessary recommendations that improve the quality of interpersonal interaction and client care is an essential part of a healthcare professional’s preparedness for the working environment. To uphold the standards of communication, positive attitudes, and respect for others, a medical worker should rely on relevant regulations that aid in maintaining an appropriate atmosphere. Reducing the instances of health care violence and discrimination is a priority of several workplace measures, which aim to provide a positive working experience for every individual involved. In this work, the workplace laws connected to diminishing instances of violence and discrimination in the clinical setting will be discussed, and the necessity of these introductions will be evaluated.
Violence in a professional environment is a pertinent issue for the healthcare sector. Numerous employees involved in the medical services suffer the consequences of negative attitudes from patients, often prompted by the lack of strict regulations which protect workers from potential abuse. According to Fasanya and Dada (2016), more than 65% of clinical professionals report workplace violence (WPV) complications that impede their working process and detrimentally affect their psychological welfare. Although necessary legislation, enacted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), is present, the number of abuse incidents remains exceptionally high (Fasanya & Dada, 2016). This results primarily from the lack of specifications in the rule, as it only advises establishing a safe working environment for everyone. Therefore, the rules of appropriate conduct should be delegated to the clients in order to instill preventative measures against WPV.
An additional complication related to workplace violence lies in the inappropriate behavior manifested in interactions between employees. The instances of hurtful attitude can also be demonstrated by colleagues, who might ignore the OSHA regulations on creating a suitable environment in the occupation. This difficulty is also highlighted by academic research, which suggests that more effort should be directed towards distributing information regarding appropriate workplace behavior (Fasanya & Dada, 2016). Every health care worker should be aware of the negative ramifications of violence displayed in physical and psychological damage. In addition, it is necessary to enforce additional laws and legislation that will ensure the safety of numerous individuals.
Another pertinent difficulty is represented in the phenomenon of discrimination, often observed in the healthcare setting. Numerous employees suffer from hurtful attitudes towards their social group, evident in stereotypes and stigmas. Similar to the legal coverage of the violence issue, several limitations regarding discriminative behavior are enacted, but the effect of these introductions remains desperately low. For instance, the legal system of the United States prohibits a number of harmful attitudes on the grounds of religion, race, ethnicity, and gender (Furlow, 2019). Nevertheless, discrimination instances still occur on a regular basis, intimidating the welfare of numerous workers. Furthermore, the USA legislations only barely protect employees with health-related issues, forcing them to undergo severe discriminative processes during their occupation (Furlow, 2019). Thus, medical professionals should be aware of these complications and strive to uphold a positive attitude towards representatives of other social groups, endorsing the elimination of various biases.
To conclude, two prominent workplace regulations, namely protection against violence and safety of discrimination, were discussed in detail in this paper. It is evident that any clinical worker should maintain the fulfillment of these requirements, creating a secure job environment for their colleagues. Avoiding instances of violent behavior and establishing a productive atmosphere should also be demonstrated in the relevant legislative items, further instilling the notions of employee protection.
References
Fasanya, B. K., & Dada, E. A. (2016). Workplace violence and safety issues in long-term medical care facilities: Nurses’ perspectives. Safety and Health at Work, 7(2), 97–101. Web.
Furlow, B. (2019). Gaps in US laws leave some vulnerable to workplace discrimination. Lancet Oncology, 20(7), 908–909.