Preventing and Mitigating Workplace Violence in Health Care: Strategies for Leaders

Jeffrey Boord, MD, MPH is the Chief Quality and Safety Officer for Parkview Health System in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Dr. Boord is a graduate of the Veterans Affairs National Quality Scholars Fellowship Program and earned his master’s degree in public health from Vanderbilt University. In his current role, he oversees patient and workforce safety, quality and accreditation, infection prevention, and medical staff services. He is executive co-sponsor for the Parkview Health Workplace Violence Prevention program. He served as Co-Chair of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Leadership Alliance’s Workforce Safety Workgroup from 2018-2022, and as Expert Panel Co-chair and Advisor for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Workplace Violence Prevention Accelerator 10/2023-9/2024. He is co-author of IHI’s Framework for Standardized Data Collection of Workplace Violence Incidents in Health Care. (2025, available at ihi.org). He currently serves on the Indiana Hospital Association’s Council on Quality and Patient Safety.

Karen Garvey, MPA/HCA, BSN, RN, DFASHRM, CPHRM, CPPS, serves as the Vice President for Safety & Clinical Risk Management for Parkland Health in Dallas, Texas. Reporting to the Chief Quality & Safety Officer, her current responsibilities include health system oversight of Regulatory & Accreditation, Patient Safety and Clinical Risk Management, Quality & Safety Education. She has been the system lead for Parkland's journey to becoming a high-reliability organization. Additionally, she is the executive sponsor for the SPARKs (Supporting Parkland Staff) Peer Support Program and the chairperson for enterprise Workforce Safety Initiatives, which involves proactive and reactive strategies to decrease violence against our workforce. She serves on local, state, and national committees collaborating to address this significant issue collectively. She is often requested to speak in forums about various activities implemented to address the issue. In March 2023, Karen testified in Austin, Texas, on behalf of Parkland to the Texas House Committee on Public Health in support of HB 240 to prevent workplace violence against all healthcare workers. The bill was passed and signed into law on May 15, 2023, and the penalties for those harming any healthcare worker will be more severe. The law became effective September 1, 2023, with all Texas healthcare organizations to comply by September 1, 2024. She is also the 2025 Chair of the Dallas-Fort Worth Workplace Violence Committee.  

Karen is also active in the American Society for Healthcare Risk Managers (ASHRM), having served two terms on the ASHRM Advisory Board, and continues to be an active ASHRM Faculty member for the CPHRM Review Course and national teaching faculty for the IHI certification in Patient Safety credential. Karen received the DFW Great 100 Award for Nurses in 2017, the Healthcare Risk Management Leadership Award from ASHRM in October 2019, the ASHRM Presidential Citation Award for ASHRM in October 2021, and the Parkland inaugural DAISY Award for Nursing Ethics. Karen was highlighted as a “Leader to Watch” in the October 2023 AONL Nurse Leader publication.

Eileen Murtagh Kurowski, MD, MS is the Chief Safety Officer, the Michael and Suzette Fisher Family Chair for Safety, and a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Anderson Center for Health System Excellence at Cincinnati Children’s. She completed internal-medicine pediatrics residency at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at CCHMC. She has extensive training in quality improvement science and has completed the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Patient Safety Executive Development Training.  Dr. Murtagh Kurowski currently oversees the complex portfolio of patient and workforce safety, including co-chairing the workplace violence prevention committee as well as regulatory and accreditation efforts at CCHMC. 

J.D. Buchert, MSN, M.ED., MS, RN, CNOR, has nearly 35 years all together, starting as a combat medic in the US Army before becoming a combat nurse where he was in sixteen combat missions and awarded a bronze star and purple heart, and after recently finishing his fourth master’s degree, he works diligently for his hospital by being active in multiple shared governance councils, interdisciplinary committees, and mentoring. He is active in his community by sitting on three non-profit boards of directors, volunteering hundreds of hours a year to non-profits charities, and strengthening community commitment by doing neighborhood cleaning projects, volunteering at storm shelters and medical missions around the world; and his profession by being active in nursing organization such as president of the Association of Perioperative nurses (AORN), the Texas Collaboration of Perioperative Nurses (TCORN), DFW Great 100 Nurses, American Nurses Association, International Nurses Association, International Healthcare Institute for Workplace Safety and Well-Being, Appointed by Governor Abbott to the Texas Nursing Legislation Action Committee, and the Committee on Workplace Violence. J.D. also led for safer operating rooms in Texas by working with legislators to implement surgical smoke evacuation into state regulations.

He is currently the President of the Dallas Chapter of the Association of Perioperative Nurses which has over 500 members, President for the Texas Collaboration of Perioperative Nurses, and sits on three national committees. J.D. has a strong belief in continuing education and plans to start his DNP this fall. J.D. helped establish the foundations of nursing research for his urban based, safety-net community hospital and worked on four research projects this last year that have capabilities to better patient outcomes while saving the hospital money and retaining nurses, three of which were funding through a University/Hospital Collaboration Grant from a local university. His dedication to the profession has been noted with several awards locally, nationally, and internationally. He finds spending time with his husband and rescue dog balances his busy career.

Jack Frazee, JD, Director of Government Affairs and General Counsel, Texas Nurses Association, is a graduate of the University of Houston Law Center. He began his legal career serving as a healthcare policy analyst for Representative Garnet Coleman in the Texas House of Representatives. Since obtaining his law license in 2018, Jack has advised healthcare non-profits and elected officials on emerging policy issues and litigated a wide range of issues in state and federal courts. Jack currently serves as the Director of Government Affairs and General Counsel for the Texas Nurses Association and advocates for better laws for nurses.

Jill K. Hodge, BSA, MSM Vice President Chief Security Leader Hackensack Meridian Health, 27 years of Security experience. Leads Security and Parking Services for North, Central and Southern region of HMH. Security Awareness & Vigilance (S.A.V.E) Certified, ASIS Security Professional, NJ Hospital Association member, IAHSS International Association for HealthCare Security & Safety professional. Leads and Chairs Network Committees including Workplace Violence, Anti-Violence subcommittee Weapon Free Zone and Training/Education, Leads Network Security Drills and Risk Assessments, Executive Protection certified, Participant Environment of Care, Emergency Preparedness Responder FEMA certified.

Carrie Mull, DNP, RN, RN-NEA, RN-PMH, serves as the Administrative Director Inpatient Clinical Operations and Care Coordination for Trinity Health Grand Rapids and has been part of the Trinity Health system for 30 years. Carrie received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree with an emphasis on Health Systems/Leadership from Grand Valley State University. Additionally, she is certified as a Nurse Executive as well as certified in Psychiatric Mental Health. Carrie also serves as the Workplace Violence Lead for Trinity Health Grand Rapids and partners with others throughout Trinity Health to improve colleague safety. She has spent most of her career caring for individuals who have both a medical and psychiatric illness. Mitigating the risk of workplace violence was the focus of her doctoral work, and she is very passionate about creating a safe environment for colleagues caring for individuals with challenging behaviors.

Deeba Siddiqui, DNP, RN, CPPS, CPHRM, SVP, Team Health & Safety, Chief Risk Officer, Hackensack Meridian Health, leads the Enterprise Risk management team in her role as Senior Vice-President, Team Health and Safety; Chief Risk Officer for Hackensack Meridian Health. Deeba previously served as the Patient Safety Officer for the United Nations. Originally from Canada, Deeba is trilingual, speaking French and Urdu. Raised as part of a traditional Muslim Indian family, she understands the complexities of being a second generation individual who is balancing tradition and societal/cultural norms. 

Dr. Siddiqui received her BSN from the University of Ottawa in Canada, her Master’s from Monmouth University and her Doctorate from Grand Canyon University. She is a member of National Patient Safety Foundation, the American Association for Healthcare Risk Management, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, as well as the National Association of Healthcare Quality. She holds dual certifications in Patient Safety (CPPS) and in Health Care Risk Management (CPHRM) and attained her Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Dr. Siddiqui recently was interviewed for a nursing insights podcast (https://lnkd.in/eHwnQ3MV) and co-authored an article published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality on the Impact of Patient Safety Culture on Missed Nursing Care and Adverse Events. 

Dr. Siddiqui's responsibilities include developing Hackensack Meridian Health’s strategic initiatives in Enterprise Risk Management; Team Health, Workforce Safety, Workers’ Compensation, and Emergency Management. Dr. Siddiqui also works on the Network’s Property and Casualty Insurance; Captive Insurance; and other Alternative Risk Finance Program. 

Dr. Siddiqui regularly interfaces with Governance and Leadership at both the Network and Hospital enterprises within Hackensack Meridian Health. Dr. Siddiqui is an experienced healthcare executive with advanced education and experience in risk management, safety, quality, and emergency management with professional roots in critical care nursing. Dr. Siddiqui is proud to serve on the Board for the American Red Cross.

Dr. Siddiqui is committed to elevating the conversation surrounding unconscious bias in the context of safety and encourages all to explore how bias influences their decisions, the care they render, and their interactions; both personal and professional. 

Deeba is a wife, mother to a teenage son (Noah 15), sister, daughter, and is an animal lover & dog mom (Bailey, Australian Shepherd) who enjoys outdoor activities, pickleball, hiking, skiing, and has most recently picked up golfing (an activity which is accompanied by a whole host of emotions)!

Jason Stopyra, MD, MS, Vice President of Public Safety at Advocate Health. Following his graduation from Emergency Medicine residency in 2003, Dr. Jason Stopyra began practicing in a rural community hospital, where he also served as EMS Medical Director. In 2013, he joined Wake Forest University, focusing his research on prehospital cardiovascular disparities using mixed methods and implementation science. He was honored as North Carolina Doctor of the Year in 2016. After a workplace violence (WPV) incident in 2022, Dr. Stopyra was asked to lead WPV mitigation efforts at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. He is now recognized nationally as a leader and expert in this emerging field. He currently serves as Professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Implementation Science.

In May 2024, Dr. Stopyra was named Vice President of Public Safety at Advocate Health. In this role, he oversees security operations across more than 70 acute care sites and 1,000 ambulatory clinical spaces, supported by a team of over 1,500 officers. He continues to lead the enterprise-wide WPV Mitigation strategy and is responsible for Public Safety training, investigations, Behavior Threat Assessment & Management, and physical security technology. The combination of his clinical expertise and commitment to public safety have led to significant improvements in violence prevention and response.