Nursing

Legislation addressing violence against healthcare workers advances

Nurse Leader Insider, June 19, 2019

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The House Education and Labor Committee recently voted out a bill that would direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a federal workplace violence prevention standard for healthcare and social services employers.

The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Services Workers Act (H.R. 1309) now advances to the full House and, according to one of its sponsors, is intended to stem the growing instances of violence against nurses, social workers, physicians, and other caregivers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2017 the rate of intentional injuries sustained by healthcare and social assistance workers was 9.1 per 10,000 workers compared to all private industry, which had a rate of 1.9.

While the country’s largest union of registered nurses, National Nurses United, commended the bill’s advancement, the American Hospital Association released a statement raising concerns that it’s passage could force healthcare facilities to create duplicate anti-workplace measures.

Source: Safety + Health



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