Safety under pressure: When routine encounters turn violent

Not every violent incident starts in a crisis unit. Andrea Greco, senior vice president of healthcare sales at CENTEGIX, describes how nearly half of duress alerts are tied to aggressive or physically threatening behavior that often begins in routine spaces: exam rooms, hallways and casual encounters with patients and family members.

She notes that these confrontations are no longer limited to patient–staff interactions. As stress and expectations rise, conflict is also showing up between staff members. Post-COVID-19 norms have shifted what some people feel entitled to say or do, and frontline teams are absorbing that change every day.

For practice leaders, Greco’s message is clear: safety planning can’t focus only on “high-risk” units.

Policies, training and response workflows have to account for the reality that any corridor, check-in desk or quick conversation with a family member can become the flashpoint for an incident.