Charles Kunkle

Protection For Healthcare Workers Against Violence Closer to A Reality

A wonderful thing just happened. Bill H.R. 1309 Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act just passed in Congress. Violence against healthcare workers is an unfortunate reality for many bedside caregivers working in healthcare organizations throughout this country. Many professional organizations like the Emergency Nurses Association have lobbied lawmakers to support a bill that would ensure that programs would be developed to protect healthcare workers. Below are just a few of the frightening statistics that highlight the dangers healthcare workers face today.

 Between 2011 and 2016, as reported in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, at least 58 hospital workers died as a result of violence in their workplaces.

 A 2016 GAO study reported that rates of violence against healthcare workers are 12 times higher than rates for the overall workforce.

 In 2016, 70% of all nonfatal workplace assaults occurred in the healthcare and social service sectors.

 A 2018 survey conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians found that 47% of emergency room doctors have been physically assaulted at work, and 8 in 10 workers surveyed report that this violence is affecting patient care.

Speaking to nurses throughout the country I am constantly hearing about violent acts nurses either have witnessed or have been a victim. As a matter of fact the large majority of nurses that I have spoken to have reported being a victim of verbal abuse with more than half stating they have been physically assaulted. I believe that the later number is actually higher but many nurses don’t report such incidents citing that they see these instances as part of their jobs, thus never reporting them.

This legislation represents a long overdue change to protect America’s caring professions and would require OSHA to issue a Workplace Violence Prevention Standard, giving caregivers the security that their employers are implementing proven practices to reduce the risk of violence on the job. The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act includes the following provisions:

 Requires OSHA to create a federal workplace violence prevention standard mandating employers to develop comprehensive, workplace-specific plans to prevent violence before it happens

 Sets a quick timeline on implementation to ensure timely protection for healthcare workers

 Sets minimum requirements for the standard and for employers’ workplace violence prevention plans. These requirements include unit-specific assessments and implementation of prevention measures, including physical changes to the environment, staffing for patient care and security, employee involvement in all steps of the plan, hands-on training, robust record keeping requirements including a violent incident log, and protections for employees to report incidents to their employer and law enforcement.

Now that this law has passed in the House the next step is a vote in the Senate then on to the President. While still not a certainty to become a reality, this bill is a step toward recognizing this an issue OSHA has 12 months to create the standard and roll it out to healthcare institutions. I am happy to see such a bill pass. My hope is that this bill is just a stepping stone. More needs to be done to increase penalties for assaulting a healthcare worker. Some states have already passed such laws making assaulting a healthcare worker a felony but a federal statute would ensure that all healthcare workers would be protected.