Heart of Safety Coalition
A nurse-security liaison supports safer healthcare environments – Mark Allred, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CHSO
04.24.2025
Episode 95 | Duration: 38:38
Mark Allred, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CHSO, is the Registered Nurse Security Liaison for Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania. Mark has been a registered nurse for 17 years at Geisinger working primarily in nursing professional development in the operating room. In September 2023 he took a role with security where he functions as an ambassador to enhance communication between clinicians and hospital security personnel and teaches classes across the health system. Mark has a master’s degree in nursing education and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Mark served in the United States Marine Corps as an Amphibious Assault Vehicle Crewman and Military Police Officer.
In this episode of Caring Greatly, Mark describes his career journey and what it means to be a liaison between the system’s security team and clinical professionals they help protect. He talks about day-to-day experiences of healthcare professionals as they learn new situational awareness, de-escalation and other skills in response to the national rise in workplace violence. Mark explains the importance of communication between clinical care team members and security professionals to create effective responses to risky or escalating situations in healthcare environments. He emphasizes how a team-based approach to workplace violence prevention helps create higher levels of safety for care team members and the patients and families they serve. And finally, Mark shares how his role fits into the larger workplace violence prevention strategies at Geisinger.
Related links
- Caring Greatly podcast episode: Security personnel as an extension of the care team
- American Hospital Association resources: Workforce and workplace violence prevention
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) resources: Workplace violence prevention
- CDC/NIOSH blog: Prioritizing our healthcare workers: The importance of addressing the intersection of workplace violence and mental health and wellbeing
- The Academy issue brief: Addressing and preventing workplace violence in leading health systems
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