Rapid response team de-escalates potentially violent encounters

Employees at Inova, a five-hospital health system based in northern Virginia, feel safer since rapid-response Safety Always For Everyone (SAFE) teams were put in place two years ago to de-escalate and contain altercations in its workplace. Security officers trained in de-escalation techniques, nursing supervisors, physicians and mental health experts make up the SAFE teams. Inova employees can summon the teams any time they feel unsafe. Nurses and other front-line health care workers are more vulnerable to assault at work than workers in other industries. (HealthLeaders Media article, 11/29/21)