Context for Practice: Nurses are knowledgeable about the forms of violence that can threaten the safety and well-being of individuals, families and communities and take appropriate actions to prevent, mitigate or respond to violent situations where possible. Nurses work together to prevent horizontal violence, workplace bullying, and harassment, and they implement mitigating actions, including reporting to appropriate authorities. Nurses work together to foster positive and safe practice environments. Nurses in formal and informal leadership roles advocate for and co-create appropriate workplace policies, processes and procedures with control mechanisms to support and/or protect clients or nurses facing violent situations and those who report an unethical or unlawful situation.
| Ethical Responsibilities: Nurses advocate for people to be free from violence in all its forms by |
| 1.4.1 |
recognizing the signs of individual or family violence (e.g., child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, gender-based violence), including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse/exploitation and deprivation; |
| 1.4.2 |
collaborating with members of the health-care team to protect the safety and well-being of all people, including reporting violence, criminal activity or unethical behaviour to appropriate authorities (e.g., health-care team, supervisors, security personnel, police) where required by circumstances, workplace policies, and/or provincial/territorial legislation; |
| 1.4.3 |
engaging in whistleblowing disclosure as a last resort, specifically in circumstances where efforts in reporting violence, criminal activity or unethical behaviour to appropriate authorities result in no action taken to resolve or stop the wrongdoings, especially if the wrongdoings represent “a substantial and specific danger to the life, health or safety of persons, or to the environment;” |
| 1.4.4 |
providing care for all people, including those identified as victims and/or perpetrators without judgment; |
| 1.4.5 |
contributing to a positive work environment through mutual respect and open communication, collaboration, compassion and support for colleagues who may be experiencing horizontal violence and/or trauma following violent incidents; |
| 1.4.6 |
modelling a respectful and inclusive environment that is free from any form of workplace harassment, bullying or violence in all its forms; |
| 1.4.7 |
assessing and anticipating the risk of incidents of workplace violence (e.g., bullying, assault, horizontal violence) from any person, including colleagues or others, where possible; |
| 1.4.8 |
taking immediate steps to protect the safety and dignity of clients when harm is underway or imminent; and |
| 1.4.9 |
refraining from acting in any way that may cause harm to another person. |
In addition, nurses in formal and informal leadership (e.g., administration, clinical care, education, policy and research) roles support healthy and safe workplace environments by
| 1.4.10 |
advocating for the right of nurses to work in a healthy and safe workplace that is free from violence in all its forms; |
| 1.4.11 |
developing and communicating safe, confidential and accessible reporting mechanisms for nurses to report bullying, violence, criminal activity or unethical behaviour without fear of retaliation or reprisal; |
| 1.4.12 |
providing education on the use of whistleblowing when all other reporting processes and mitigation strategies have been implemented, or no action has been taken to resolve or stop the workplace violence; |
| 1.4.13 |
promoting transparency, challenging current practices, and protecting whistleblowers to uphold the dignity and safety of clients and colleagues, understanding that staying silent means supporting the unacceptable behaviour; |
| 1.4.14 |
supporting nurses in their duty to report unsafe work environments by providing safe and confidential processes for reporting concerns and taking appropriate action to address and resolve identified issues; and |
| 1.4.15 |
working with others to create policies and processes to prevent risk of violence, protect whistleblowers, resolve workplace conflicts, and support nurses in cases where violence cannot be prevented. |