As part of the increased awareness across the country and the hospital management’s policy of zero tolerance towards any manifestation of violence, physical or verbal, Shaare Zedek offers the staff workshops on how to deal with tense situations, especially those that have the potential to turn violent.

Participants learn how to prevent potential confrontations and deal with situations that may arise, while being sensitive to the human aspect and that emotions may be running high. The training sessions are coordinated by Mr. Eli Gergir, Director of our Security Department and Dr. Nirit Krakover, an Organizational Consultant.

Eli shared, “Increasing our staff’s awareness about potential situations of violence and providing them with appropriate tools to contend with violence is an important part of the struggle against violence.

It is important for me to present to the employees the situation in our hospital and analyze with them the potential causes of the violence in the hospital (the problematic hours, the sensitive places,…) and then emphasize which actions must be taken in such situations.

My main message is that proper behavior can significantly reduce occurrences of violence in our workplace. Treating all patients and their families with empathy and trying to reduce their feeling of uncertainty can reduce such incidences by about 80%.

I am glad that Shaare Zedek is putting a strong emphasis on the importance of addressing violence in the hospital and that the hospital believes that there is a strong connection between these training sessions and the fact that the rate of violence at Shaare Zedek is one of the lowest among hospitals in Israel.”

This week, a workshop was held for the new nurses as part of their orientation in the hospital.