“Let’s Talk™” With Paul Sarnese and Mitch Gesinger About Reducing Workplace Violence In Healthcare

Paul Sarnese, CHPA, MSE, MAS, CAPM, Owner/Founder Secured & Prepared Consulting

Mitch Gesinger, MSN, RN, CJCP, CPHQ

www.SecuredandPrepared.com

Why Security and Workplace Safety Can be Make or Break for Employees

Paul Sarnese and Mitch Gesinger from Secured & Prepared Consulting specialize in providing solutions to reduce workplace violence in healthcare.

We are honored to speak today with Paul Sarnese and Mitch Gesinger from Secured & Prepared Consulting about the specialized healthcare solutions they deliver to reduce workplace violence”

— Martin Eli, Publisher

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, March 11, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, Paul and Mitch. It’s aways an honor to speak with the past President of the IAHSS (International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety). Welcome Mitch. Congratulations on the growth and expansion of your consulting firm Secured and Prepared Consulting (www.SecuredandPrepared.com) .

We read with great interest your recent LinkedIn post regarding 2023:

“2023 was a great year for Secured & Prepared Consulting speaking engagements! Our team had the honor to share our knowledge and experience with several organizations who are leading efforts to reduce violence in healthcare. We were able to speak in front of and with all of the following agencies.

- International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS)
- International Hospital Federation IHF Secretariat
- American Hospital Association
- American Society for Health Care Risk Management (ASHRM)
- New Jersey Hospital Association
- Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- New Jersey Primary Care Association
- New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Association
- National Healthcare CFO, CXO and HR Summit

That’s quite an impressive list! Care to elaborate, Paul, regarding the some of your 2023 projects and success stories?

Paul Sarnese: Secured and Prepared Consulting had a fantastic year. Not only did we have several speaking engagements, but we also had the opportunity to perform multiple workplace violence assessments for several Health Systems, Academic Medical Centers, Community Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, Home Care, Long Term Care, and corporate offices. The feedback that we received from those organizations was incredible. The reason it was so incredible is because Secured and Prepared Consulting is different than its competitors.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Mitch, what makes Secured and Prepared different?

Mitch Gesinger: Well, I can’t give away all the details, but I can say we take a holistic approach because we know that workplace violence is not solely a security problem. What we have seen in the industry is that organizations tend to think that they need a security assessment; while we believe that is a component, we know that alone is not the answer.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Ok, now you have my attention… Paul, how is workplace violence not a security issue?

Well, you see it is deeper than security alone. Workplace violence touches every piece of the organization and to identify the root causes in the organization you need to be able to know how healthcare organization’s function, you need to be able to assess the organizations infrastructure, and you need to be able to assess and understand the needs of clinicians and all other staff within the organization. You will not get that from a security assessment alone.

The other thing that makes Secured and Prepared unique is that we partner with the organizations on the solutions. While we can simply provide an assessment and drop off a report for the organization to figure out; we know that is futile for the organization and therefore we continue the relationship to ensure success.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thank you, Paul, it is starting to make more sense. If you would be willing to share one thing that makes you unique, not giving away the secret sauce, but a little bit of sharing what would it be.

Paul Sarnese: Honestly, without giving away the secret sauce… The answer is simple. Mitch and I have years of experience working in and navigating large complex matrixed health systems. With Mitch’s nursing and Quality/Safety/Regulatory/Risk background and my background not only in security, but also with Facilities, Environment of Care, and Operations, we are able to be far more comprehensive than what an organization will get if they just want a “security assessment.”

Besides conducting the workplace violence assessments, we were able to help several ambulatory care surgical centers by conducting active shooter and operating room fire prevention and response training. We also facilitated the active shooter and operating room fire exercises with the surgical center staff and the local first responders.

Mitch Gesinger: We also supported several hospitals by conducting comprehensive regulatory (CMS, Joint Commission) accreditation and regulatory assessments.

Paul Sarnese: We assisted several law practices representing healthcare facilities by being their expert witness to review healthcare security operations. We pride ourselves on providing the generally accepted industry standards and the sources of truth in which we are basing our opinions. We have worked for both plaintiffs and defendants.

I personally had a really great experience supporting a health system by assuming an interim leadership role. I was tasked with developing the security department’s capital and operating budget, identifying needed training and education and policies and procedures. I then onboarded the new security manager who was transitioning from a law enforcement career. I was happy with the way I was able to identify the new leaders’ strengths and opportunities for improvement. I then created a playbook for the new security leader to follow to ensure compliance with industry and regulatory standards and to make the transition to private security easier.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Your experience in the healthcare safety and security space is second to none and, unfortunately, workplace violence in healthcare settings is on the rise. Your recent post on this topic was most compelling, “Having a comprehensive emergency operations plan is crucial for maintaining a secure environment and ensuring business continuity. For healthcare facilities, having a bomb threat response plan is essential. “Are there some “tips” you would like to share here with management, administrators, and employees?

Paul Sarnese: Today’s organizations face multiple threats that they must be prepared for. Organizations must have plans to mitigate the impact of natural disasters like extreme weather events, manmade threats like insider threats, active shooters, and technological events like the loss of power, loss of water and cyber-attacks. It starts by conducting a hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA) to identify the threats, the organization’s level of preparedness and the impact that the event would have on the organization’s ability to continue to operate. Unfortunately, many organizations do not place a high priority on emergency preparedness. Typically, this lack of investment into emergency preparedness results in interruption of services and loss of income. We have helped many organizations to complete their HVA and to develop policies and procedures, training and education and conducting exercises to test their response plans and employee response. We recommend that organizations utilize very specific incident action plans that are formed like a checklist that includes the appropriately sequenced actions that the leader in charge of the event can follow. Having this checklist does not require you to be an expert in emergency preparedness, anyone can follow the checklist to respond to and manage the event.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: We understand, Paul, that your serve as an advisor to a select group of companies that provide security solutions in the healthcare space. Please tell us more.

Paul Sarnese: As consultants we are always vendor neutral, but yes, this has been a fantastic opportunity for us to help companies that are providing solutions to keep people safe and secure. Having been both influencers and decision makers on evaluating and purchasing innovative technology gives us a unique perspective. We have provided education about the threat of workplace violence in healthcare to several Board of Directors, investors, innovators, and the sales and marketing teams. We have provided insights on a typical day in the life of a security leader. We have had input into the design of some of the innovative solutions that organizations are evaluating to mitigate workplace violence. We have also had the opportunity to spend time with several sales and marketing teams, we educate them about the healthcare environment so that they can get in front of the right audience to provide education and evidence on the positive impact that their solution would have on staff safety.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Any upcoming speaking engagements and articles you would like to mention?

Paul Sarnese: Yes, I just had an article published in the Journal of Healthcare Protection Management about leading practices to design and maintain a safe and secure environment to ensure that all LGBTQ+ patients have access to quality healthcare. The article describes the challenges that our LGBTQ+ patients face and, the unique security challenges that can present themselves to campuses providing services to the LGBTQ+ community.

I am also working on an article on how healthcare organizations leaders can develop a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program and adopt technologies that can help prevent and mitigate violent situations.

We have an upcoming webinar, sponsored by Compliatric (https://compliatric.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAq4KuBhA6EiwArMAw1FpItiAchNf0APTB1UnMetDOPkbk8iQytkQvchyrBStfAF8iAds5qBoCvcsQAvD_BwE) , in March presenting the leading practices to design and maintain a safe and secure environment to ensure that all LGBTQ+ patients have access to quality healthcare.

We will be speaking at the 7th International Conference on Nursing Science and Practice in April; the presentation is Safety Precautions for Radiology Nurses.

In May, we will be speaking at the Annual Conference of the Organization of Nurse Leaders of NJ concerning leading practices to mitigate violence in healthcare.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thanks again for joining us today, Paul, is there anything else you would like to discuss today?

Paul Sarnese: Yes, thank you. I would like to speak to all the healthcare executives for a moment. We all know the impact that workplace violence has on healthcare. Violence impacts our ability to recruit and retain talent, to have satisfied and engaged employees and to provide outstanding care to the communities we serve. Workplace violence is not a public safety or security issue, it is much more complex. To truly evaluate and strengthen your program, you must include a review of the clinical elements that can contribute or mitigate violence.

Mitch Gesinger: You gain a tremendous amount of credibility when you can have a clinician speak with another clinician and a security professional speak to another security professional. You can send a powerful message to your employees that you care about their safety and security when you bring in outside experts to evaluate your overall workplace violence prevention program before an incident occurs.

Paul Sarnese: We guarantee that you will learn about your current strengths and opportunities for improvement, you will be provided with proven strategies to mitigate violence and you will gain the trust and respect of your workforce.

*****************************************************************************************************************
Connect with Paul Sarnese on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-sarnese-chpa-mse-mas-capm-0b234214/

Connect with Mitch Gesinger on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitch-gesinger-msn-rn-cjcp-cphq-64a0b8a5/

For more information: www.SecuredandPrepared.com

*****************************************************************************************************

WATCH THE PODCAST

Paul Sarnese and Lisa Falzone, Co-founder, President, Athena Security (www.Athena-Security.com)
Why Security and Workplace Safety Can be Make or Break for Employees
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-security-and-workplace-safety-can-be-make-or/id1695615895?i=1000644573681\
https://podcasts.bcast.fm/e/p8mxvl4n-why-security-and-workplace-safety-can-be-make-or-break-for-employees


*******************************************************************************************************
Would YOUR business benefit from this same type of marketing and media coverage?

Let us feature your business, brand or your professional services in our “Let's Talk™” interview series.
We are working doctors, insurance and real estate agents, lawyers, manufacturers, restaurants, retail chains and stores, salons, sports venues, theaters, and all types of businesses - even a few creative artists !

Here is another example of the media coverage we deliver, please see...
“Let's Talk™” with Dr. Inna Lazar, One of “America’s Best Eye Doctors'', With Offices in Greenwich & Darien, Connecticut on NBC News here:
https://www.wfla.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/677447238/lets-talk-with-dr-inna-lazar-one-of-americas-best-eye-doctors-with-offices-in-greenwich-darien-connecticut

For more information, please contact our Founding Publisher, Martin Eli here:
www.SecuritySolutionsWatch.com/Main/Contact_Us.html
*******************************************************************************************************

“Let’s Talk™” and “In The Boardroom™” are brand names owned by Research 1825, Incorporated, a New York State corporation.
For more information, and contact information, please click here:
www.SecuritySolutionsWatch.com/Main/Contact_Us.html

******************************************************************************************************

Martin Eli
MartinMarketingAssociates
MartinMarketingAssociates@outlook.com