Missouri Hospital reported an increase in patient attacks on staff in 2020.
Cox Medical Center Branson plans to give panic buttons to up 400 employees by the end of this year.
They will find the panic buttons on their ID cards. Security will then be notified.
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After attacks on staff members rose last year, a Missouri hospital has used grant money to attach panic buttons onto the ID badges of its nurses.
Staff at Cox Medical Center Branson's emergency rooms and inpatient hospitals will soon be able use a panic button to alert security, who can track their location. The announcement was made via Facebook.
The facility stated that patient assaults against staff have increased by three times in the past year. The number of total assaults increased from 40 in 2019 and 123 in 2020. The facility reported that total injuries increased from 17 to 78 in 2019 and 2020.
Alan Butler, the system director for Public Safety and Security, stated in a Facebook post that the buttons were a crucial tool to stop assaults.
Butler stated that person panic buttons are used when Public Safety response is crucial and it's impossible to reach a phone. "Personal Panic Buttons, or PPBs), are another tool in our fight to keep our staff safe. They further demonstrate the organization's commitment towards maintaining a safe work environment and care environment.
Ashley Blevins, a hospital nurse, said to KYTV that she has been "spitted on, cussed out," even beat by patients over the past year.
Blevins stated that it was nice to be able to press the button. Security knows where we are, and if they have to chase down a patient, they will know our last location." Blevins said to KYTV.
According to the Facebook post, similar buttons were tested at a Springfield, Missouri hospital.
A JAMA April report found that violence against healthcare workers is on the rise at least for the past decade. A survey conducted by National Nurses United in November 2020 found that 20% of the 15,000 respondents had experienced increased violence while on the job.
Nurses attributed violence to "decreasing personnel levels, changes in patient population, visitor restrictions"
Cox Medical Center Branson has also installed distress calls displays on its nurse call system. This means that if an employee is being attacked in a room, the exterior of the room will lighten up and a custom tone at designated nurse call consoles will ring.
