Protecting Caregivers: Why Workplace Safety is the New Competitive Advantage

5/2/2025

Dana Evans, emergency department charge nurse at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, is the very picture of a healthcare worker who has seen, heard and done it all—without getting rattled by any of it. During one particularly busy shift, Evans found herself face down on the pavement outside the ED after an angry patient punched her in the face. After receiving medical treatment including pain medication, the unshakable veteran nurse returned to complete her shift, remarking to new colleagues that such violence is a common occurrence. However, while she puts on a strong face, as time unfolds, Evans eventually questions whether she should continue working as an ED nurse.

While Evans is a fictional character depicted in the television show The Pitt, this scenario is very real. Consider the following reported by the American Nurses Association: 64% of nurses have reported being violently assaulted including 40% hit or slapped, 31% spit on, 26% kicked and 25% punched.¹ The reality is that workplace violence against healthcare workers has risen by 115% since 2021,² creating an urgent need for proactive safety measures.

Not surprisingly, this tumultuous environment has prompted many nurses to reconsider their career choice. In fact, 17% exited the profession in 2023 because they felt their safety was compromised.³ Additionally, the number of emergency medicine training program applicants dropped 26% in 2023,⁴ thereby exacerbating the ongoing staffing crisis.

Hospital leaders have the power to address this pressing issue. Rather than accepting the status quo, leaders can and should prioritize employee well-being and foster a culture of trust. By implementing comprehensive programs that utilize advanced technologies, leaders can improve both staff safety and retention.

Turning to Technology
Real-time locating systems (RTLS) that leverage wearable duress buttons are a valuable technology for fostering a culture of safety. With solutions such as Midmark CareFlow™ Staff Duress, clinicians wear badges that transmit signals to the network in real time. If a staff member is in duress, they can press the badge button, prompting the network to detect and display their location and send an immediate alert to responders. This allows security and other team members to know who is in trouble and where. Clear visual location cues within the system help responders act immediately and effectively without delaying communication, making it possible to quickly and easily locate staff who need help.  

The system also produces the intelligence needed to improve response times overall. Robust analytics provide the visualization needed to help understand incident time and location, so leaders can gauge response efficiency, help determine staffing levels and assess security protocol.

To summarize, staff duress systems powered by RTLS help to:

• Reduce response time with real-time alerts to security or team leaders
• Provide data-driven insights to refine emergency response protocols
• Empower nurses to focus on patient care with peace of mind that they can summon help if needed

And this isn’t just a one-off solution. CareFlow RTLS offers multiple high-value use cases from a single platform and can or may already be leveraged within a health system for other uses such as Asset Tracking and Nurse Call Automation. This approach provides a comprehensive solution, allowing health systems to maintain focus on clinical efficiency and safety throughout the organization.

Adding up the Bottom-line Benefits
In addition to supporting a safer environment, RTLS equipped with a staff duress solution can produce other benefits as well. One of those benefits is a substantial cost savings realized through reduced turnover. Retaining experienced nurses can save hospitals significant costs related to recruiting, hiring and training. According to the 2025 NSI National Healthcare Retention and RN Staffing Report, the average cost of turnover for a bedside RN is $61,110. These costs add up quickly, as the average hospital is now losing between $3.9 million and $5.7 million due to turnover.⁵

Perhaps the most important benefit—when nurses feel safe, they can deliver better patient care, improving overall outcomes.

Standing Out from the Crowd
While safety programs protect the current workforce, leaders can also highlight safety initiatives in their recruiting efforts. With violence so prevalent in healthcare settings, it stands to reason that nurses and other front-line clinicians are more likely to choose to work at facilities that implement technologies that can help to protect its staff. According to a study in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, newly graduated nurses considered working conditions and organizational climate as the second and third most important factors in choosing an employer with salary being the top concern.⁶ As a result, the adoption of RTLS could serve as an important differentiator in a tight labor market. While leaders can’t promise that RTLS technology will eliminate volatile situations, they can point to RTLS to help calm concerns of potential new hires who are considering a job offer—particularly those who might be a bit leery after binge-watching The Pitt.