Given the challenges to providing consistent violence prevention training to healthcare workers throughout BC, the Provincial Violence Prevention Steering Committee (PVPSC) assembled a Curriculum Team of violence prevention experts from BC’s Healthcare Unions, regional Health Authority employers, WorkSafeBC, and OHSAH to develop a provincially-recognized, recommended, healthcare-specific violence prevention training curriculum.

The curriculum team first conducted a needs assessment to identify and prioritize the violence prevention curriculum topics that would apply to the majority of healthcare workers. The team then developed high-level learning objectives, identified who should receive which level of training, and determined the course content and format. It was determined that most of the core violence prevention training curriculum should be developed in an online modular format, with hands-on training for advanced violence prevention topics to be addressed through the subsequent development of classroom modules.

Eight online modules have been developed and are available for regional implementation after the Dissemination Forum on June 16th, 2010. The online modules are designed for all healthcare workers and take about 15 to 25 minutes each to complete.

For more information on the online modules click here

The classroom modules will offer hands-on skills-based training for workers which will include advanced violence prevention strategies and techniques that can be used in the workplace setting. Classroom content and skill development will focus on: communication and de-escalation; safety strategies for responding to physical violence; team response training; and behavioural care planning for violence prevention.

Provincial development of the classroom modules is currently underway with expected completion by early 2011.

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For more information on the Provincial Violence Prevention Training Curriculum please contact:

Andrea Lam
Program Project Manager, OHSAH
778-328-8086
andreal@ohsah.bc.ca

Dailaan Shaffer
Program Project Coordinator, OHSAH
778-328-8057
dailaans@ohsah.bc.ca