The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) banded together on March 22 to “emphasize the need for passage of legislation designed to mitigate the frequency and severity of workplace violence in healthcare.”
The two groups briefed congressional staffers on the issue, invoking several data points. Among other things, the data suggests that “the rate of serious injuries related to workplace violence is six times higher for hospital workers compared to all other private sector employees in the United States” and that “emergency nurses and other members of the emergency care team experience a violent crime event once every two months on average.”
Chris Dellinger, President of the Emergency Nurses Association, MBA, BSN, RN, FAEN, emphasizes her own experiences and those of her coworkers “getting kicked, punched, slapped, spit on, or attacked with objects.”
ACEP President Aisha Terry, MD, MPH, FACEP, stressed the importance of two bills – the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act and the Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees Act – that are pending in Congress. She believes those bills “can help protect healthcare workers on the job and take important steps to prevent incidents from happening in the first place.”
ANA President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA, FAAN, says that “it’s the employer’s responsibility to ensure workplace safety and security, but sadly in many healthcare settings nurses are still experiencing violence at alarming rates…And these bills that we are currently supporting in Congress” are a step in the direction toward breaking the “deadly cycle of violence against healthcare professionals.”
PR Newswire has the release.
