Catholic hospital group removes crucifixes to stop them being used to attack staff: report

A group of Catholic hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin is removing crucifixes from emergency units and patients rooms to protect staff from attacks using them, the Becker's Hospital Review reported.

The decision was made in response to “the changing healthcare landscape and the general increase in healthcare workers experiencing workplace violence,” according to a statement from Hospital Sisters Health System.

There are no details on any specific attacks, and the statement said that there would be "safer replacements" for the wood and metal crucifixes.

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"Healthcare and social services report the highest rates of nonfatal workplace injuries across all sectors — surpassing both manufacturing and construction by well over 100,000 incidents," Becker's Hospital Review reported.

"As patient violence rises, individual health systems and states have taken various actions to protect their workers, from Rhode Island Hospital's anti-violence campaign to the Connecticut Hospital Association's code of conduct for patients and families."

Hospital Sisters Health System operates 15 hospitals, according to its website.

"St. John's Hospital strives to be a safe, healing environment for patients and colleagues, and aggression is not tolerated," the health system said, referring to one of its hospitals. "HSHS thanks the community for its ongoing support of their local health care workers."

Read the full report over at Becker's Hospital Review.