What is a staff duress & safety solution?

A duress and safety solution is often a key part of workplace violence prevention programs. A staff duress system ensures the safety of healthcare workers in potentially dangerous situations. Discreet yet effective, the system allows staff to quickly alert security personnel during an emergency situation, often pinpointing their location.

Why is a comprehensive program to address workplace violence so important?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare workers are nearly five times more likely to be assaulted due to workplace violence than all other workers in the private sector combined. And the numbers are rising: A reported 40 percent of healthcare workers experienced an incident of workplace violence in the last two years. In addition, hospitals must now comply with Joint Commission and OSHA regulatory requirements/guidelines and state-by-state legislation designed to mandate the development of workplace violence programs for staff safety in hospitals.

Why have attacks on nurses and other healthcare staff become more frequent?

There are a variety of reasons that an ever-increasing number of healthcare workers have become the target of workplace violence: Increasing use of hospitals by the criminal justice system for criminal holds and the care of acutely disturbed, violent individuals Increasing number of acute and chronic mentally ill patients for whom adequate inpatient and follow-up care is not available Long waits for service and overcrowded waiting rooms Availability of medication, particularly opioids, amidst a national opioid crisis Increasing presence of substance abusers Distraught family members Isolated work with patients during examinations or treatment A workforce that is predominantly female Poorly lit corridors, rooms, parking lots, and other areas Lack of staff training and policies for preventing and managing crises with potentially volatile patients Understaffing

What staff duress & safety solutions have been employed in hospitals and why did they fail?

For many years, the only alerts available when a situation escalated were hard-wired duress buttons installed on walls for convenient electrical access. They are often placed in areas where the clinical staff can’t access them in an emergency, sometimes in a hallway or at the nurse’s station, which is often too far from the event. Another common spot for a duress button is behind the patient’s head on the wall, which is not accessible when a patient becomes your assailant

What are the components of the Cognosos RTLS staff duress and safety solution?

Badges designed to be discreet (similar to a typical hospital asset badge) and inconspicuous to an assailant Alerts sent with the push of a button on the badge A dedicated communication channel that relays the emergency alert quickly Integration with hospital emergency codes (Code Gray) to ensure all staff are aware that an incident is in progress Continuous location of the person who is at risk while the event is ongoing Reporting about the incident response in compliance with the hospital’s workplace violence prevention plan

How critical is location for a staff duress and safety solution?

Having an RTLS that offers room-level accuracy with high confidence is essential when an incident involves more than one location. If an assailant is moving around the hospital—especially if they have a staff member or patient in tow—first responders need to go to their current location, not where they were five minutes ago when a staff duress button was pushed.

What areas should a staff duress and safety solution cover?

The entire hospital footprint, including patient rooms, offices, closets and storage rooms, restrooms, hallways, and loading docks Pathways leading to and around the hospital Parking lots and garages

How does the Cognosos staff duress and safety solution work?

A staff member personally experiences or witnesses an incident of workplace violence. The staff member presses a button on their wearable badge to alert the hospital that an incident is in progress. A designated department of the hospital receives the alert and initiates an emergency response; a Code Gray emergency code is announced throughout the hospital. After the incident is over, Cognosos collects data about the hospital’s response for use in a report according to the workplace violence prevention plan.

How does a staff member activate the duress button?

Buttons are located on a badge or similar device worn by hospital staff. When a staff member witnesses or experiences an incident of workplace violence, they press the button on the badge. After the button is pressed, the badge sends a message to the designated hospital department responsible for responding to the incident.

What happens after a staff member activates the duress button?

The badge will provide a silent, tactile “buzz” when the duress button is pushed, assuring the staff member that help is on the way without alerting or agitating an assailant. The badge sends a message through a low-latency communication channel separate from the hospital’s network that prioritizes emergency calls. An emergency code announcement (Code Gray) is made over the public address system, informing staff that an incident is in progress. During and after the incident, Cognosos collects data from and publishes the information via a dashboard. That information is included in reports the hospital must produce to meet standards (from The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulatory and legislative entities) for workplace violence prevention plans.

What are the benefits of a staff duress system?

Meeting The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulators’ workplace violence prevention plan requirements A proactive approach to prevention Improved performance by staff Increased job satisfaction Improved recruitment of staff/reduced turnover

What systems does a staff duress and safety solution integrate with?

A staff duress and safety solution should have an API that communicates with other systems, such as the hospital’s public address system (e.g., for emergency announcements) and security systems (e.g., to lock down specific areas to isolate an emergency and alert security staff) to facilitate a multi-tiered incident response.

What is required to comply with agencies that have current and upcoming regulations and guidelines for hospitals?

The Joint Commission created new and revised workplace violence prevention stardards that became effective on January 1, 2022 for all Commission-accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals.

What happens to facilities that do not have a WPV plan in place?

If a hospital fails to create a workplace violence program, there can be significant penalties involved. The Joint Commission may revoke a hospital’s accreditation, while OSHA has issued fines under its General Duty Clause, which requires employers to provide employees with a place of employment that is “free from recognized hazards that …are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” The organization has fined several hospitals for failing to protect their employees against workplace violence, including one Pennsylvania hospital that was fined more than $32,000. Additionally, some states have laws that establish penalties for assaults on healthcare workers.

How long does it take to install a staff duress and safety solution?

Implementation time depends on several factors, such as facility size and involvement of hospital IT staff. Because the Cognosos staff duress and safety solution runs on such light infrastructure, however, the time from contract to use is among the shortest on the market.

Healthcare Staff Safety and Duress

Hospital staff safety & duress

Campus-wide staff duress, ensuring safety both indoors & outdoors

From the time they park until the time they leave – staff throughout the hospital remain covered by Cognosos Safety.

Enable rapid, location-aware incident response
Build staff confidence and meet new safety mandates
Ensure accurate duress coverage, inside and outside

Book a demo

Your staff deserve the best protection

Not all duress solutions are built equally, and your staff deserves the best protection on the market. Discover why hospitals are choosing Cognosos as their staff safety partner.

Prioritize safety

Create a safer, more attractive work environment

Stay ahead of other hospitals by implementing a duress solution to show employees and potential employees that staff safety is a top priority for your facility. Cognosos’ streamlined infrastructure simplifies the deployment of a comprehensive duress solution for hospitals which offers your staff rapid access to a duress solution from start to finish and assists your safety and management teams in developing a workplace violence plan to comply with regulatory and legislative guidelines and mandates.

80%

of hospital and clinical staff would feel safer with a duress solution at their hospital

Mobile duress

Find staff right away & throughout the event

60%

Nurses left, changed jobs, and consider leaving due to WPV

NNU

Responding promptly to duress events hinges entirely on the precision of location updates. You wouldn’t want to respond to the parking garage when the event has already shifted to a walkway. Cognosos Guardian’s wearable alerting solution enables you to implement a successful safety by design program.

Rest assured, your staff is safeguarded with a duress solution that instantly triggers alerts on a low-latency and dedicated alerting infrastructure and delivers precise, ongoing location updates.

Campus-wide coverage indoors & outdoors

One of the only RTLS platforms to provide safety both inside and outside, offering complete campus-wide coverage.

Stay on top of unfolding incidents

Receive continuous location updates as the event unfolds to ensuring help is arriving where the staff member is, not where they were.

Avoid Wi-Fi communication delays that impact response time

Dedicated communication infrastructure with low latency designed to trigger alerts immediately.

Staff worn badge

Purpose built based on decades of healthcare experience

81%

of nurses experienced WPV within the last 12 months.

NNU

Unlike the duress button which is typically located on the wall behind the patient bed, we designed our solution to provide support where the user needs it, right at hand. We leveraged over 20 years of experience inside hospitals to ensure we keep hospital staff safe in real-life working conditions.

Everything from the badge, button placements, and end-user workflow is designed specifically for hospital staff, keeping them protected all day, every day.

Discreet button placement to avoid escalation

Your staff can easily find and press the duress button without taking their eyes off of the potential threat. A silent buzz is felt when the button is pressed to confirm that an alert was sent, and help is on the way.

Minimize infection risk

Specifically designed with smooth surfaces and minimal seams to avoid collecting contaminants.

Self-test feature

Maintain your staff’s peace of mind with an easy to use built-in self test feature that can be completed before they start their shift.

Cognosos Guardian

Hospital staff safety & duress

Protect everyone, everywhere with campus-wide staff safety & duress solution.

Hospital staff safety & duress

Campus-wide staff duress, ensuring safety both indoors & outdoors

Book a demo

Your staff deserve the best protection

Accurate location from start to finish

Complete campus-wide protection

Dedicated low latency network

Rapidly available duress protection

Prioritize safety

Create a safer, more attractive work environment

Mobile duress

Find staff right away & throughout the event

Campus-wide coverage indoors & outdoors

Stay on top of unfolding incidents

Avoid Wi-Fi communication delays that impact response time

Staff worn badge

Purpose built based on decades of healthcare experience

Discreet button placement to avoid escalation

Minimize infection risk

Self-test feature

Cognosos Guardian

Hospital staff safety & duress

Request a demo