TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2009//
TI  - Hospital employee assault rates before and after enactment of the California Hospital Safety and Security Act
JO  - Annals of epidemiology
A1  - Casteel, Carri H.
A1  - Peek-Asa, Corinne L.
A1  - Nocera, Mary-Alice
A1  - Smith, J. B.
A1  - Blando, James
A1  - Goldmacher, Suzi
A1  - O'Hagan, Emily
A1  - Valiante, David
A1  - Harrison, R.
SP  - 125
EP  - 133
VL  - 19
IS  - 2
N2  - PURPOSE: This study examines changes in violent event rates to hospital employees before and after enactment of the California Hospital Safety and Security Act in 1995. METHODS: We compared pre- and post-initiative employee assault rates in California (n = 116) emergency departments and psychiatric units with those in New Jersey (n = 50), where statewide workplace violence initiatives do not exist. Poisson regression with generalized estimating equations was used to compare assault rates between a 3-year pre-enactment period (1993-1995) and a 6-year post-enactment period (1996-2001) using New Jersey hospitals as a temporal control. RESULTS: Assault rates among emergency department employees decreased 48% in California post-enactment, compared with emergency department employee assault rates in New Jersey (rate ratio [RR] = 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.31, 0.90). Emergency department employee assault rates decreased in smaller facilities (RR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.96) and for-profit-controlled hospitals (RR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.19, 0.79) post-enactment. Among psychiatric units, for-profit-controlled hospitals (RR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.19, 0.85) and hospitals located in smaller communities (RR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.92) experienced decreased assault rates post-enactment. CONCLUSION: Policy may be an effective method to increase safety to health care workers.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1047-2797
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2008.10.009
ID  - ref1
ER  -