How to Use This Toolkit


Thank you for addressing such an important initiative in your workplace. ENA partners with you in this endeavor by providing you with this toolkit. The ENA Workplace Violence Toolkit is organized to give the project leader all the resources they need to map out a plan of any size to address the issue of emergency department Workplace Violence. The steps used are sequential and build upon each other so each step should be completed before moving onto the next.

How do I get started?
You can see that all of these steps are dependent on the one prior. We recommend you start by moving through these pages in order to get to the Step One: DEFINING your role as a project leader. Used in order, you will be completing all the work needed to initiate and execute a credible plan that can cycle into a continuous process and affect real change.


Where are the “tools”?
This is a dynamic resource. As you move through the steps, the tools that can be used to complete each section will be linked throughout the content. If you need to go directly to a tool or resource, there is an appendix that links you to a library of any of the tools that are embedded in the web pages you are viewing. You can access this appendix at any time by returning to the table of contents or by clicking on the link in the "toolkit resources" section of each step.
All resources are web pages and are printable. They are developed to be used as part of the active process of creating a plan to address what you will identify as your department’s safety priorities.
All forms can be saved on your own computer and filled in electronically or printed and filled out manually. There are many different types of resources available in this toolkit. Some of the tools you will find:

  • Assessment tools
  • Research articles and summaries
  • Sample policies and procedures
  • Staff education materials
  • Sample correspondence for communicating with hospital management and staff
  • Sample policies and procedures
  • Project plans complete with outcomes and action items and a worksheet to customize your own project plan
  • Sample occurrence reports and data collection tools

All of these tools, with the exception of sample forms, can be modified to meet your project needs. We have provided you with templates with information that can be edited into your ideal tool. You may need all of these tools or just some depending on how you customize your project to your emergency department. The ENA toolkit resources are reproducible in the form that they are found on this website. For additional guidelines regarding the use of the toolkit and its resources and content, click here.

What if I have questions while using this toolkit?
ENA is committed to assisting you with the use of this toolkit. We believe that by initiating such an important program, you are advancing the practice of emergency nursing and contributing to the trend of acknowledging that verbal and physical violence is unacceptable in any work environment. Please contact an ENA staff member with questions regarding this toolkit and we will do our best to answer your question or connect you with the appropriate resource to assist you.

You can send your questions and comments to: IENR@ena.org or call us at (800) 900-9659 extension 4119.

Will my emergency department workplace violence initiative follow a standard of practice designed by ENA?
There are no specific standards of practice directly related to emergency department workplace violence at the present time. ENA, along with other emergency health care groups have long identified and called for legislative and administrative support for initiatives to keep our emergency departments safe for both staff members and patients. ENA has done an extensive review of research and even surveyed its own membership in an attempt to give you the best information in which to evaluate the status of your own emergency department. We have developed a practical response and plan to improve those aspects of your department’s approach to emergency department workplace violence that sustain an unsafe and potentially lethal environment for you and your coworkers.
The ENA Workplace Violence Toolkit takes matters in hand by giving the project leader the ability to address this issue at all levels to all audiences—administrative, department management and staff. We hope that you will find that the ENA has done much of the work for you and has enabled you to start developing a safe standard of practice in your own emergency department quicker and more efficiently with lasting effects that are recognized for its value.


Thank you for addressing such an important initiative in your workplace. ENA partners with you in this endeavor by providing you with the following ENA Workplace Violence Toolkit.


Learning the steps to an effective project plan