The people who blame everything on the moon might be onto something.
A new study suggests that healthcare workers use their panic buttons more frequently during a full moon, according to an analysis by Canopy, a hospital safety company.
Canopy assessed 2023 data from 200,000 healthcare workers nationwide who wear the company’s duress button, which they can press to alert a peer or member of a security team during an incident.
Canopy reported a 9% increase in panic alerts during full moons.
The company’s CEO told Axios that he was shocked by the “very strange” finding.
“I was like: That’s ridiculous. There’s no way,” Shan Sinha told the outlet. “Maybe there really is something to everybody’s anecdotal experiences.”
A reported 40% of hospital staff believe a full moon impacts emergency room visits, but past studies have not supported the hypothesis with any statistical significance.
Regardless of the phase of the moon, healthcare workers have always faced a greater degree of workplace violence and, in recent years, it has only gotten worse.
Compared to other workers, those in healthcare and social services are five times more likely to experience violence, according to the latest data available from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Surveys among nurses and physicians have reported significant increases in rates of violence toward healthcare workers since 2018.
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