The Importance of A Security Guard in Hospitals 🏥

While not frequently thought about by the general public, security guards are a necessary part of many hospitals. In spite of not providing medical care to patients, hospital security guards are critical to helping patients and staff feel and be safe. They even need not work in a hospital: nursing homes, assisted living centers, and mental health facilities need trained, professional help to make their patients, employees, and residents feel as safe and secure as possible.

Hospital security guards 🏥 are charged with protecting everything from people to information to the institution’s reputation. They perform patrols and inspections to make sure everything is in order and escort or assist patients or hospital staff in moving objects or accepting deliveries to the hospital. It’s not a hard profession to enter either; most security guards only need to complete a short training program that covers the basics, such as self-defense and arrest laws. Some states mandate requirements to be a security officer, and if weapons will be required, nearly all states have relevant laws.

Guards are expected to mold themselves to the culture of each particular hospital and enforce an individual hospital’s rules and regulations. It is important that hospital security guards be extra cautious when using a force of any kind, and only when entirely necessary. Some guards are even armed with weapons, possibly deadly weapons, though not all facilities want this as it severely threatens their liability.

Protecting patients and hospital staff are the main duties of a security guard employed by a hospital or an agency that specializes in healthcare security. Only people on a legitimate business need to be allowed into a hospital, and the security guards ensure that. Sometimes, for various reasons, patients might try and harm themselves, other patients, or staff, and security guards need to be ready to subdue them. If a situation becomes too much for the private security staff to handle, it is their responsibility to get the police involved and on the premises as soon as possible, as well as make an official report to the relevant authorities.

Patient information confidentiality has always been important to those in the medical profession, and security guards, alongside secured computer systems and rooms, make sure this information does not fall into the wrong hands. Frequent patrols and knowing when something is out of the ordinary are the must.

Security guards working at hospitals can be responsible for any number of good things, like providing a secure place for a victim of an attack to recover, providing clear directions to people rushing to a loved one’s bedside, and being kind and strong to fearful people needing to enter the facility for care. This is a profession where employees can truly make a difference for the better in the everyday lives of people. Healthcare security guards truly protect those who need it most.