The shooting and murder-suicide Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital is the latest example of a rising tide of violence in America's hospitals, according to MSNBC.
Healthcare facilities reported 33 violent incidents in 2009, compared with just single digits in 2002-2003. The real number of incidents is likely higher than those widely known, according to the Joint Commission.
Once considered safe havens, healthcare institutions now confront steadily rising rates of crime, including violent crimes such as assault, rape, active shooters and homicide. There were 256 assaults, rapes or homicides of patients and visitors at American health organizations since 1995, the Joint Commission reports. A whopping 43 percent of those occurred after 2007.
Perhaps the long waits and high stress that lead to acting out might explain why one in four of nearly 3,500 ER nurses reported being assaulted more than 20 times over the past three years, according to a survey conducted by the Emergency Nurses Association.
Indeed, "people are just tired of waiting, or they are just angry that they're not getting the care they feel is acceptable," ER nurse Rita Anderson told CNN. "Instead of saying something, their response is hitting, screaming, spitting, yelling."
Anderson said she has been scratched, bitten, spat on and hit across the face so hard her jaw broke. The assailant later told her, "I'm sorry. I was tired of waiting."
To learn more:
- read the MSNBC story
- here's the CNN story
- read this Joint Commission alert on hospital violence
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