Urgent Plea to Safeguard Your Caregivers

by | Feb 6, 2025 | Admin, Caring for the Caregiver, Clinical

by Kristin Rowan, Editor

Care at Home Worker Safety is not Optional!

I will rarely present an editorial piece that is based only on my opinions. I hold a few about care at home in general, but at least attempt to use statistics, facts, and history to support my positions. This is one area where the facts and numbers are all there, but using them is not as effective as sharing these stories. No matter where your agency is in its growth, no matter how large or small, no matter your plans for 2025, if you have not started a safety committee, created safety protocols and operating procedures, and invested in GPS-enabled emergency response systems for your staff, do so NOW, so this story doesn’t become your story.

One More Story is One Too Many

The tragic death of Joyce Grayson made headlines across the country both immediately after her death and for months after with lawsuits and new regulations in her state. This week, another avoidable incident left a home health aide in Massachusetts bedridden and temporarily unable to walk.

The aide, who asked to remain anonymous said she thought she was going to die. “I was screaming Help! Help!,” while a man in his 70s, for whom she has provided care for more than two years, attacked her with a knife. The man repeatedly stabbed, slashed, and sliced her while she kept kicking at him and thrashing her body. Despite all her attempts to escape, the man would not let her get up. 

Worker Safety

“I was tired,” she recalled, after fending off her attacker, “I’m gonna die here, I think that, but in that moment I remembered my sons, my family and giving me power. I confronted him.”

As she fled the apartment, the man followed her with a piece of wood. She ran down the hallway, where a security guard intervened. The man lost his balance during the struggle and fell. The home health aide spend two days in the hospital, receiving blood transfusions and dozens of stitches. She has decided no to return to her job, which she has held for a decade.

“He’s not going to kill me. He’s not going to pull me down.”

Home Health Aide Attacked on the Job

Worker Safety

Next Time, it Could be You

No care at home worker deserves to feel unsafe or to be attacked at work. No agency owner wants to be the headline of the next story about a home care worker who ended up in the hospital or the morgue. Don’t be the next agency that has to explain to a family how this happened to their mother, daughter, son, or uncle, or cousin. No child wants to find out that their parent isn’t coming home because they did not have the means to call for help.

Act Now, Before it's Too Late

You might be surprised, if you asked, how many of your caregivers have ever felt uneasy, unsafe, or uncomfortable during their shift. Whether is the client, a family member of the client, pets, firearms, the neighborhood, or something else, most lone workers will experience some degree of fear. While not entirely preventable, there are steps you can take to minimize the risk:

    • Ask your employees for honest feedback
    • Research the client, family members, and the neighborhood for safety issues
    • Create a committee comprising management, administrators, and caregivers, to create a safety plan
    • Invest in training for your staff to include deescalation techniques, situational awareness, self-defense, and any other classes your safety committee deams necessary
    • INVEST IN GPS-ENABLED EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEMS FOR EVERY EMPLOYEE, NOW!

Recommendations

As a company that engages in software adoption consulting, we don’t often make direct recommendations, prefering instead to tailor software selection to each agency and its unique needs. This is one area where I will make the exception and continue to make the exception until every lone worker in and out of the care at home industry is equipped with a safety device.

POM Safe

POM Safe is a personal safety solution that allows lone workers to get help when needed, but was designed to incorporate prevention and de-escalation. “The best 911 call is the one that never happens.”

The device includes features such as:

    • Fake phone calls to allow the caregiver to step away from a situation
    • Check on me to alert the agency if the caregiver has not checked in after an appointment
    • Appointment Sync to give first responders precise locations in an emergency
    • One-tap text sending a pre-written text with precise GPS location
    • Incident Reports to prevent future incidents
    • Two-way calling to a dispatcher when emergency help is needed
    • Voice activation when your caregiver can’t get to the device
    • Real-time crime data by neighborhood
    • Sex offender registries
    • 24/7 emergency dispatch
    • Device or app-based

Katana Safety

The Katana safety device attaches directly to the caregiver’s phone. It has a quick-trigger activation to bypass the phone’s lock screen, and provides instant help 24/7.

This device includes features such as:

    • Audible and inaudible alerts that launch GPS signals and connect worker to call center
    • 24/7 highly trained PERS center
    • Safety text and call after an alert with immediate dispatch if caregiver does not answer
    • Walk with me feature to have a dispatcher stay in contact while the caregiver gets to safety
    • Circle of safety to alert up to seven people in case of emergency
    • Customizable safety commands that each clinician sets up with voice activation
    • Beacon backup if bluetooth fails
    • Text messaging with GPS location
    • Employee check-in with voluntary location tracking and pin drop
    • 2-year battery life
    • Options to connect by app, fob, watch, or voice

Final Thoughts

Ensuring the safety of your employees before you send them out to care for your clients is not an optional benefit, a “nice to have,” or something you can do when you “get around to it.” Providing the training and safety devices needed to make sure each and every one of your caregivers makes it home every day should be your top priority. Whether you choose one of the devices above or go with a different option, start looking for one now. If you need help starting your safety committee or writing a survey to assess the safety risks in your agency, I will help you. With all of the technology available to us, there should no longer be any stories of caregivers who were attacked and did not have the means to call for help.

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Kristin Rowan, Editor
Kristin Rowan, Editor

Kristin Rowan has been working at The Rowan Report since 2008. She is the owner and Editor-in-chief of The Rowan Report, the industry’s most trusted source for care at home news .She also has a master’s degree in business administration and marketing and runs Girard Marketing Group, a multi-faceted boutique marketing firm specializing in content creation, social media management, and event marketing.  Connect with Kristin directly kristin@girardmarketinggroup.com or www.girardmarketinggroup.com

©2025 by The Rowan Report, Peoria, AZ. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared in The Rowan Report. One copy may be printed for personal use: further reproduction by permission only. editor@therowanreport.com

 

Preventing Violence: More Action Items

by | Jun 20, 2024 | Admin, Caring for the Caregiver, Clinical, CMS

By Elizabeth E. Hogue, Esq.

Violence in Healthcare

According to a recent analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, healthcare is one of the most dangerous places to work. Homecare field staff members who provide services on behalf of private duty agencies, hospices, Medicare-certified home health agencies, and home medical equipment (HME) companies may be especially vulnerable. Contributing to their vulnerability is the fact that they work alone on territory that may be unfamiliar and over which they have little control. Staff members certainly need as much protection as possible.

 

Preventing Violence Bureau of Statistics Graph

Must-Haves

First, regardless of practice setting, management should develop a written policy of zero tolerance for all incidents of violence, regardless of source. The policy should include animals. The policy must require employees and contractors to report and document all incidents of threatened or actual violence, no matter how minor. Emphasis should be placed on both reporting and documenting. Employees must provide as much detail as possible. The policy should also include zero tolerance for visible weapons. Caregivers must be required to report the presence of visible weapons.

Below are some additional important actions for healthcare organizations to take that are based on UCHealth’s SAFE Program:

  • Encourage staff members to STOP if they feel unsafe for any reason.
  • Workers should pause to generally ASSESS their environments. Staff members should think about what has happened and observe what is currently occurring. Is there, for example, mounting frustration or anger?
  • Staff should then FAMILIARIZE themselves with the room. Who is the patient? Where is the patient? Are there any factors that might escalate behaviors? Staff members should also consider putting themselves in positions where they have a route to escape, if necessary.
  • Practitioners should also ENLIST help. Getting help may, for example, include pushing panic buttons on mobile devices.

Here is what Chris Powell, Chief of Security at UCHealth said in Becker’s Hospital Review on June 4, 2024:

“You can’t just talk about the shrimp and give you a good picture. We have to talk about the roux and the rice and everything else that goes into this for a good picture to be painted so people have an understanding. We want to solve this with an electronic learning or a 15-minute huddle, but we can’t. This is continuous and a persistent pursuit toward educating, communicating, recognizing, responding to, reporting and recovering from workplace violence.”

Every caregiver matters. The healthcare industry has lost caregivers to violence on the job in the past. Let’s not repeat these terrible events.

©2024 Elizabeth E. Hogue, Esq. All rights reserved.
No portion of this material may be reproduced in any form without the advance written permission of the author.

Connecticut Senate and House Pass Home Care Worker Safety Bill

by | May 10, 2024 | Admin, Caring for the Caregiver, Clinical, Regulatory

by Kristin Rowan, Editor

Last week, we reported on the proposed Bill in the Connecticut Senate and House to provide additional precautions for home care worker safety. In wake of the Elara Caring at Fault Joyce Grayson Home Care Worker Safety Joyce Grayson murder during a home health visit, leadership in Connecticut aimed to safeguard home health and home health aide workers and collect risk assessment data on the same.

On May 6, 2024, CT legislature passed bills in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Instead of the proposed bills that we reported on previously, both branches added amendments to previous bills. The bills include provisions for cyberattack readiness, child safety, and other items not related to care in the home.

First Stage of Home Care Worker Safety

Some of the provisions in the final bill are effective July 1, 2024. As we previously reported, hospice agencies are currently exempt from these provisions and the CT legislature will address hospice agencies in their next session.

On and after July 1, 2024

The Commissioner shall increase the fee payable to a home health care or home health aide agency that provides escorts for safety purposes to staff conducting a home visit to cover the costs of providing such escorts.

The Commission of Public Health will establish and administer a home care staff safety grant program to provide grants to home health and home health aide agencies for staff safety technology, including, but not limited to :

  1. A mobile application for staff to access safety information about a client
  2. A method for staff to communicate with either local police or other staff in the event of an emergency
  3. A global positioning system-enabled, wearable device that allows staff to contact local police
Effective July 1, 2024

The sum of one million dollars is appropriated to the Department of Public Health for the the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, to establish and administer the aforementioned grant program.

The Commissioner of Public Health and the Commission on Community Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention, will develop or find educational material about gun safety practices and provide such to primary care providers to give to patients who are 18 years of age or older.

Second Stage of Home Care Worker Safety

Some of the provisions in the final bill are effective October 1, 2024. Home health and home health aide agencies have five months to comply with these measures.

Effective October 1, 2024, home health and home health aide agency must collect and provide to assigned workers information about:

The client, including as applicable;

  1. psychiatric history
  2. history of violence
  3. history of substance use
  4. history of domestic abuse
  5. current infections, if any, and treatment received
  6. whether diagnoses or symptoms have remained stable over time
Home Care Worker Safety
Other persons present or anticipated to be present at the location of care including, if known to the agency:

  1. name and relationship to client
  2. psychiatric history
  3. history of violence or domestic abuse
  4. criminal record
  5. history of substance use

Location where employee will provide services including, if know to the agency:

  1. the crime rate for the municipality in which employee will provide services
  2. the presence of any hazardous materials, including, but not limited to used syringes
  3. the presence of firearms or other weapons
  4. the status and of the fire alarm system
  5. the presence of any safety hazards, including, but not limited to, electrical hazards
By October 1, 2024, each home health and home health aide agency must:

Provide staff training consistent with the health and safety training curriculum for home care workers, including but not limited to:

  1. Training to recognize hazards commonly encountered in home care workplaces
  2. Applying practical solutions to manage risks and improve safety

Conduct monthly safety assessments with each staff member and

Provide staff with a mechanism to perform safety checks, which may include, but need not be limited to:

  1. A mobile application that allows staff to access safety information about the client
  2. A means of communicating with local police or other staff in the event of an emergency
  3. A global positioning system-enabled, wearable device that allows staff to contact local police by pressing a button or through another mechanism
Effective October 1, 2024

Each home health and home health aide agency shall, in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Public Health:

  1. Report each instance of verbal abuse that is perceived as a threat or danger to the staff
  2. Report each instance of physical, sexual, or any other abuse by a client against a staff member

Third Stage of Home Care Worker Safety

No later than January 1, 2025

Beginning January 1, 2025 and annually therafter, the commissioner shall report to the joint standing committee:

  1. The number of reports of violence and abuse received
  2. The actions taken to ensure the safety of the staff member about whom the report was made
Effective January 1, 2025

Each individual health insurance policy shall provide coverage for escorts for the safety of home health care agency or home health aide agency staff

The joint standing committee of the General Assembly will convene a working group to study staff safety issues affecting home health and home health aide agencies, including but not limited to the following members:

  1. Three employees of a home health care or home health aide agency
  2. Two representatives of a home health care or home health aide agency
  3. One representative of a collective bargaining unit representing home health care or home health aide agency employees
  4. One representative of a mobile crisis response services provider
  5. One representative of an assertive community treatment team
  6. One representative of a police department; and
  7. One representative of an association of hospitals in the state

Implications

As we mentioned before, these regulations will become mandates across the country soon. OSHA has found the home care agency in Connecticut at fault for failing to implement safety procedures and precautions in the death of Joyce Grayson. The nurse’s family is suing the home health agency for wrongful death. Connecticut has established a protocol for safety measures, committees, reporting, and grant programs to implement immediate safety procedures across home health and home health aide agencies in the state. Before these provisions are passed on a national level, and before you have to tell the family of one of your staff that they aren’t coming home…

 

We urge you to:
  1. Create a safety committee within your agency
  2. Invest in training on de-escalation, workplace violence prevention, and self-defense
  3. Research and invest in a GPS-enabled emergency alert system for your staff. We recommend POM Safe and Katana Safety
  4. Insist on background information on all clients and others living in the home upon intake and BEFORE the first home visit
  5. Create a safe and comfortable way for your staff to report verbal abuse, violence, or uneasiness from any in-home visit
  6. Invest in escort and/or paired visits for high-risk clients, first-time clients, or any other situation that warrants it

We will continue to follow this story and provide updates as we receive them.

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Kristin Rowan, Editor
Kristin Rowan, Editor

Kristin Rowan has been working at Healthcare at Home: The Rowan Report since 2008. She has a master’s degree in business administration and marketing and runs Girard Marketing Group, a multi-faceted boutique marketing firm specializing in event planning, sales, and marketing strategy. She has recently taken on the role of Editor of The Rowan Report and will add her voice to current Home Care topics as well as marketing tips for home care agencies. Connect with Kristin directly kristin@girardmarketinggroup.com or www.girardmarketinggroup.com

©2024 by The Rowan Report, Peoria, AZ. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared in Healthcare at Home: The Rowan Report. One copy may be printed for personal use: further reproduction by permission only. editor@therowanreport.com

BREAKING NEWS: Home Care Agency Faulted in Death of Joyce Grayson

by | May 2, 2024 | Clinical, Regulatory

by Kristin Rowan, Editor

Home health agency failed to protect Joyce Grayson

History

We’ve been following the story of Joyce Grayson since her death in October of 2023. The news was first published in The Rowan Report here on November 8th, 2023.On April 14th, we reported on the pending Senate Bill in Connecticut that would require home health agencies to provide additional information and safety precautions prior to a home visit. The safety  of solo workers is now even more important to home health and hospice agencies with the most recent update.

Elara Caring at Fault Joyce Grayson

Today

May 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) posted a news release on their investigation into the death of Joyce Grayson, a home health nurse in Connecticut. According to the Department of Labor, OSHA has determined that Elara Caring exposed their employees to workplace violence from patients who were known to pose a risk to others. Jordan Health Care Inc. and New England Home Care Inc., both doing business as Elara Caring, have been cited for willful violation of the agency’s general duty clause. OSHA cited them for not developing and implementing safety measures to protect employees from workplace violence. They also cited the agency for failure to report work-related injury and illness records within four business hours.

Repercussions

OSHA has proposed more than $163,000 in penalties against Elara Caring. Elara Caring has 15 days from receipt of the citations to respond, request a hearing, or contest the findings. 

“Elara Caring failed its legal duty to protect employees from workplace injury by not having effective measures in place to protect employees against a known hazard and it cost a worker her life,” said OSHA Area Director Charles D. McGrevy in Hartford, Connecticut. “For its employees’ well-being, Elara must develop, implement and maintain required safeguards such as a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program. Workplace safety is not a privilege; it is every worker’s right.”

OSHA found that Elara Caring could have reduced the potential for workplace violence by looking at the root causes of violent incidents and “near misses.” They could also have provided clinicians with background information on patients prior to a home visit. Other recommendations from OSHA include providing emergency panic alert buttons and using safety escorts for visits with high-risk patients.

Future Recommendations

The DOL states that employers should have a comprehensive workplace violence program. This program should include both management and employee involvement. Further, the DOL says this plan should have a written program with a committee. Elements of a workplace violence program include:

  • Analysis of a home upon new patient admission
  • Hazard prevention and control
  • Training and Education
  • Resources for Impacted Employees
  • Recordkeeping
  • Employee Feedback
Elara Caring at Fault Stop Workplace Violence

Implications

If Elara Caring is fined for failure to keep their clinicians safe as a result of the investigation into Joyce Grayson’s murder, state and national level regulations are sure to follow. However, even if the laws in your area don’t change, investing now in workplace safety for your clinicians could save you from similar allegations and fines. As we mentioned in last week’s article about the Senate Bill, we have been in touch with several emergency alert companies and will be providing product reviews in the next few weeks. Start a workforce safety committee, develop a written plan for mitigating dangerous situations, and issue emergency response systems to all of your clinicians before it is your agency under investigation. More importantly, take these steps before your team loses one of its own to workplace violence.

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Kristin Rowan, Editor
Kristin Rowan, Editor

Kristin Rowan has been working at Healthcare at Home: The Rowan Report since 2008. She has a master’s degree in business administration and marketing and runs Girard Marketing Group, a multi-faceted boutique marketing firm specializing in event planning, sales, and marketing strategy. She has recently taken on the role of Editor of The Rowan Report and will add her voice to current Home Care topics as well as marketing tips for home care agencies. Connect with Kristin directly kristin@girardmarketinggroup.com or www.girardmarketinggroup.com

©2024 by The Rowan Report, Peoria, AZ. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared in Healthcare at Home: The Rowan Report. One copy may be printed for personal use: further reproduction by permission only. editor@therowanreport.com