Invitation

The Scientific and Organization Committee cordially invites you to attend and register for the Second International Conference on Violence in the Health Sector “From awareness to sustainable action”, 27 – 29 October 2010, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The focus of the Second International Conference on Violence in the Health Sector targets at concrete and sustainable initiatives, projects, and research aimed at combating violence in the health sector: lessons learned. The conference offers therefore an impressive and interesting program with a combination of keynotes, workshops, papers, and poster presentations from more than 30 countries world wide.

International Continuing Nursing Education Credits (ICNECs)
This conference is being recognized as a continuing education activity and has been approved by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) for the award of International Continuing Nursing Education Credits (ICNECs).

Some facts on violence in the health sector:

• As many as 72% of nurses do not feel safe from assault a work (ICN)
• Health-care professionals are at the highest risk for being attacked at work, even when compared to prison guards, police officers, or bank personnel (Kingma)
• Tens of thousands of women each year are subjected to sexual violence in health care settings (WHO)
• Whilst the actual rates of horizontal (care-worker to care-worker) violence and bullying remain unknown these types of hostile behaviour are widespread and have devastating effects at personal, group and organisational levels
• In a survey of 127 hospitalised psychiatric patients 50% reported experiences of abuse either by other patients or by staff (Lucas and Stevenson)

These data underscore the necessity to raise awareness of this problem and to develop effective plans of action to address the problem. It is progressively gaining attention and recognition as being a global problem. A problem of major concern for many different stakeholders in the health care sector: government, management, professionals, health care workers, insurance companies, clients, educators, trainers, researchers, the police, professional and trade union organizations, and others.

The specific aims of the conference are:

• To sensitize stakeholders to the issue of violence in the health care sector
• To understand the manifestations and the human, professional and economic implications of violence in the health care sector
• To promote effective sustainable initiatives and strategies to create safe environments for workers and clients in the health care sector

The subthemes of the conference are:

1. Strategies and initiatives to manage violence in the health sector at local, institutional, organisational and (inter)national levels: lessons learned
2. Patterns of staff aggression and violence: including horizontal & vertical violence,and gender and discrimination issues
3. Patterns of staff & institutional aggression and violence against clients
4. Patterns of client aggression and violence against staff
5. Impact of violence including psychological, professional, ethical, economic, financial, legal, social, and political issues
6. Environmental and specific health care setting considerations including urban and rural
7. Methodological issues regarding researching violence in the health sector
8. Training and educational issues regarding clients and workers
9. Stigma, blame and attribution issues
10. Awareness promotion, visibility, and public attention

Conference Organization:
The conference is organized by Oud Consultancy and is at this moment supported by the following organisations: BCNU, BILD, CONNECTING, DKIT, FIP, IAPO, ICDA, ICM, ICN, IHF, INTRAHEALTH, NU’91, PSI, PZR, STII, WCPT, WFOT & WMA, and some other international and national organizations have expressed their intention to do so as well.

At the conference you will receive a book of proceedings, in which all the presenters have published either their abstract or a written fuller version of their presentation.

Social activities to promote personal contact networking, understanding and friendship among colleagues include a welcome reception on Wednesday the 27th and a special conference dinner cruise in the harbour of Amsterdam on Thursday the 28th of October 2010.

The city of Amsterdam adds a blend of history and culture to the dynamics of a trendy metropolis, offering the ideal opportunity for an enjoyable stay before, during and after the conference.

We look forward to your abstract submission and welcoming you to Amsterdam

On behalf of the Organisation and Scientific Committee

Dr. Ian Needham, Chair of the Organisation and Scientific Committee & Nico Oud, MNSc, N.Adm, RN, Conference Organiser

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