Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the increasingly harsh workplace conditions that nurses, doctors, social workers, and other healthcare workers have endured to keep our communities going. But even before the pandemic, healthcare and social service workers faced a disproportionate risk of on-the-job violence and injuries.

A few year ago, two workers in Oregon were tragically wounded in a workplace stabbing at an organization that provides essential services to youth who are facing addiction, homelessness, and behavioral health issues. Following the incident, Oregon AFSCME members organized to improve working conditions that were compromising the quality of services for vulnerable clients and the safety of the employees.

Workers across the country, like the workers at Outside In, in Portland, need an evidence-based workplace violence prevention plan tailored to the needs of the vulnerable populations they serve. Today, we have a chance to support their safety and well-being in the workplace.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter in support of the legislation from the Emergency Nurses Association. Emergency Nurses Association, February 23, 2021. Hon. Joe Courtney, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Courtney: On behalf of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) and our more than 52,000 members, I am writing to express our support for H.R. 1195, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act of 2021. This important and timely legislation will ensure that health care and social service employers undertake steps to protect their employees and patients from violence in the workplace.

As you know, workplace violence against health care workers, including emergency nurses, has become a national crisis. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workers in the health care sector accounted for only 20% of workplace injuries yet comprised approximately 50% of all victims of workplace assault. The same study found that between 2002 and 2013, serious incidents of workplace violence were four times more common for workers in the health care sector versus all workers in the U.S.

Unfortunately, assaults and batteries directed at workers occur at especially high rates in emergency departments (EDs), which are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and are required under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) to stabilize and treat all patients. Often, health care professionals in the ED interact with members of the public when emotions run high and their behavior can sometimes become violent. Research has found that emergency nurses and other personnel in the ED experience a violent event about once every two months. Further, a 2011 study reported that one-third of emergency nurses had considered leaving the profession due to workplace violence.

The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act will ensure that health care employers, including hospitals, take specific steps to prevent workplace violence and ensure the safety of patients and workers. This bill will require health care and social service employers to develop and implement a comprehensive violence prevention plan which must include procedures to identify and respond to risks that make workplaces vulnerable to violent incidents. In addition, the legislation will help ensure that employees are appropriately trained in mitigating hazards.

Emergency nurses are disproportionately victims of assaults in the workplace. We would like to thank you for introducing this important legislation and your leadership on this critical issue. Sincerely, Ron Kraus, MSN, RN, EMT, CEN, ACNS-BC, TCRN, 2021 ENA President.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Courtney for his leadership on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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