Nurturing a safety and security-oriented culture in healthcare environments is critical to the overall organization. A wide variety of humanity crosses paths with healthcare workers every day. To encourage security awareness amongst employees, they need to understand that they are an essential element of the security solution. Security officers are the first line of defense for ensuring a safer healthcare environment but the culture of security needs to envelop all personnel including nurses, doctors and administrative workers.
A Roadmap to Enhanced Security
By providing a roadmap of a healthcare facility’s security procedures, all employees are educated and informed and can take ownership in their personal safety and security. Areas to consider when developing a culture of security include:
- Disorderly patient protocol – It is important to establish a clear code of conduct for security and other personnel to address patients or visitors who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and who are acting erratically and aggressively.
- Physical Security – While physical security officers are safety stewards, other employees may not be aware of their own role. Are they holding doors open or accepting packages from individuals they do not know? These courteous acts could create risks. Are nurses leaving their pocketbooks or totes in unlocked areas that are open to visitors and patients? Theft can happen anywhere that opportunity knocks.
- Parking Lot Security – Criminals look for easy opportunities. Medical workers can avoid being an easy target by keeping packages and valuables out of sight and locking windows and doors.
- Staff Communications – Regular communication with all healthcare employees is important in maintaining a secure workplace. Share safety and security policies and create forums where employees can ask questions and make suggestions.
- Reporting – The expectation that suspicious incidents or security breaches be reported should be made clear. In some hospitals, it can be helpful to offer a hotline for employees to anonymously report suspicious incidents or inappropriate conduct.
The healthcare organization’s message about safety must be consistent and continuous and everyone must commit to building and sustaining a culture of safety.
Security Officer Duties Evolve
With the wave of hospital mergers and consolidations and private donations which underwrite the development of new wings and specialties, many hospitals are getting bigger and bigger. When a patient or visitor enters a hospital, sometimes in an agitated state, just knowing where to go can create additional anxiety with signage not always easily visible. Enter the security officer who is often the first and last person that a hospital patient and visitor see. The hospital security officers, who are stationed in the lobby areas, are very visible hospital employees who greet patients when they enter the facility and direct them to where they want to go.
A hospital security officer’s primary duty is to protect people, property, information and reputation and they are called to respond to security emergencies within the hospital. Beyond handling security emergencies, officers escort patients and visitors to their destinations and help people in and out of their vehicles.
Some hospitals have security officers on post at their parking areas. These officers are able to assess the moods and attitudes of people as they park their cars. If someone seems troubled, they can offer a friendly ear and assess if the situation may escalate. They also direct people from the parking lot to where they want to go in the hospital. They even jump-start dead batteries in people’s cars.
Security personnel are generally posted in a hospital’s emergency room where they are continually assessing the state of mind and actions of patients and visitors. If they see someone getting emotional, they immediately step in to try and calm them down before anything gets out of control. They may offer the person a coffee or blanket or simply a friendly ear.
Security officers make regular rounds throughout the hospital. As they patrol, they communicate with patients and visitors and assess the safety and security of their environment. If there is a spill on the floor, they either clean it up or call environmental services to get it taken care of. They escort visitors, patients and even nursing staff to their cars at nighttime.
As cost pressures increase, healthcare facilities are challenged to reduce expenditures while being responsive to customers. The role of the healthcare security officer is as a visible brand ambassador whose primary responsibility is to protect people, information and the reputation of the facility. They are in place to provide rapid assistance to security emergencies within the healthcare setting. They patrol buildings and grounds, detect hazardous conditions and improperly secured areas to prevent theft, injuries or damages. As healthcare security ambassadors, they may assist people to and from their cars, escort patients throughout the facility and receive deliveries.
Going Beyond Security
Today’s healthcare security officer balances additional responsibilities as needed which don’t deter from the objectives of the traditional security program. While on patrol, security officers, rather than maintenance staff, consistently turn lights off as an energy savings measure. They check the status of windows and doors to ensure better protection to occupants and to safeguard unoccupied buildings.
Healthcare security officers monitor sensitive laboratory equipment with temperature checks. If there is a spill on the floor, they clean it up themselves if time permits or immediately report it to maintenance. They function as a first responder to HAZMAT incidents and provide emergency response to a variety of situations including fire and bomb threats where they lead the hospital evacuation.
It is not uncommon for officers to assist motorists with battery jump-starts and lockouts. Healthcare security officers act as a vigilant set of eyes as they provide limited valet service which puts them in an optimal place to assess the state of mind of patients and visitors.
Most people don’t associate security officers with reception, but officers are stationed at the reception desk where they monitor internal control systems to ensure that appropriate access levels and security clearances are maintained.
Today’s healthcare security officer acts as a liaison between the hospital and law enforcement. Challenges for the officers include upholding a calming and welcoming atmosphere for patients and families while addressing high-risk situations including trespassers seeking to enter the hospital in search of drugs or patient information.
While many hospitals are bigger than ever, competition for patients is at an all-time high. Hospitals receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements based on the results of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. Patients rate their inpatient stay in multiple categories which include measuring the patient’s happiness. Hospital security officers who are engaged, courteous and helpful help create a more overall, positive patient experience.
Part of creating an outstanding hospital experience includes producing and maintaining a safe, secure and customer-friendly environment for patients, visitors and staff. Security officers can be trained to take on a customer service role. By combining customer service and security, visitors, patients and staff feel safe and engaged the moment they step into the front door.
