See Safety, Believe Safety: How Awareness Shapes Hospital Protection
A recent incident at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center brought renewed attention to the importance of clear safety expectations in all clinical environments. A postpartum floor visitor is accused of strangling and dragging a nurse, after the nurse intervened to protect a newborn during a dispute between the visitor and a patient. The baby was unharmed, but the event left many reflecting on how quickly situations can escalate in settings where tensions run high.
While investigations continue, the incident serves as a stark reminder of a broader national challenge: workplace violence isn’t limited to one unit or one type of clinical setting. It can surface anywhere in a hospital. Most facilities have policies and procedures in place. Still, they offer limited protection when they reside in manuals or training modules rather than being visible in the spaces where decisions are made. When expectations are visible, they help shape behavior in subtle but meaningful ways. Clear cues can prompt people to pause, manage rising emotions, and better understand the boundaries and consequences that apply in a clinical setting. While visibility alone cannot prevent every incident, it can moderate escalation and reduce the volume of situations that place staff at risk.
Why Visibility of Safety Policies Matters
Evidence shows that visible safety expectations influence behavior in hospital settings. In a case study from Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center, leaders reported a 51.7% drop in workplace-violence incidents in one year after introducing clear signage that outlined expected behavior toward staff. They noted that the visible messaging helped set expectations early and reduced the likelihood of escalation. This mirrors what many states now require—posted workplace-violence notices, visitor conduct expectations, and information on staff protections—acknowledging a simple reality: people respond to the rules they can see.
Hospitals are busy, high-pressure settings where emotions can run high, and environmental cues can help people navigate them. Behavioral signage, reminders of legal consequences, clear indicators of where to seek help, and consistent escalation pathways make it easier for staff, patients, and visitors to have practical cues they can act on in stressful moments. Without these cues, policies remain internal documents that many never see, and that lack of clarity can increase the chances of confusion or escalation.
What Awareness Looks Like in Practice
Improving safety awareness doesn’t always require significant changes. For many hospitals, a simple first step is making the expectations, policies, and pathways they already have more visible. During high-pressure moments, staff rely on clarity and reinforced cues to act quickly and confidently.
Make pathways to help make it obvious. Staff should know exactly how to call for help through initial training, regular refreshers, and clear signage that reinforces what to do in an emergency. Raising awareness among visitors and patients is just as important. Expectations only work when the people entering a hospital understand them.
Post expectations in high-visibility areas. Entrance points, waiting rooms, elevators, and unit corridors should clearly communicate behavioral policies and the legal protections for staff.
Make expectations consistent and easy to recognize. Clear signage and predictable cues across the hospital help everyone navigate stressful moments with less confusion. When both staff and visitors understand what to expect and how to behave, safety initiatives have the most significant impact. It’s this shared awareness that made outcomes like the 51% drop at Piedmont possible.
Visibility Builds Trust Before a Crisis Begins
Hospitals cannot eliminate every unpredictable moment, but they can shape the environment to set clear boundaries and reduce confusion during an emergency.
The situation in Columbus reflects a challenge seen across the country: volatile moments can happen in any clinical space. That makes it critical for hospitals to build awareness everywhere, ensuring staff and visitors understand expectations no matter where they are.
Safety becomes believable when it is visible, and in healthcare, that visibility protects everyone inside the building.
Tags: “healthcare safety” “ hospital violence” “ workplace violence”
