National Nurses United

4 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 1 NATIONAL N ational nurses United announced its support for the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, introduced Feb. 22 by Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-2). The bill, introduced with bipartisan support, would mandate that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) create a national standard requiring health care and social service employers to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence pre- vention plan. This legislation is especially important given that health care and social service workers face the highest rates of injuries caused by workplace violence, with signs that the violence may be increasing during Covid-19. In a November 2020 NNU survey of 15,000 registered nurses across the coun- try, 20 percent of RN respondents reported an increase in violence during the pandemic. "We applaud Rep. Courtney for intro- ducing this critical legislation that will save so many lives," said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN. "Studies have shown that having a plan in place to stop health care workplace violence before it happens reduces these incidents and, yet, there is no federal requirement for health care employers to have a prevention plan. Now, in the midst of the deadliest pandemic of our lifetimes, it's more clear than ever before that we can't afford to lose one more nurse or health care worker. We urge Congress to swiftly pass Rep. Court- ney's bill." "Health care and social workers have been waiting for years, long before Covid, to have their safety taken seriously while they're working hard to ensure everyone else's," said Rep. Courtney. "Our nurses and health care professionals face more on-the- job violence than any other sector in the American economy and the rates have been on the rise for years, even during the Covid- 19 crisis. These incidents are predictable and preventable, and it's time we ensure workplaces take the steps that we know work to avoid them. This is an extremely flexible and bipartisan proposal, and it's driven by the very workers who are most at risk. I'm grateful for the support of our bipartisan coalition, and especially for the support of organizations like National Nurses United and their members across the country who have helped us drive this bill farther and farther ahead. We're ready to work hard to move this effort across the fin- ish line in the 117th Congress." The legislation introduced by Rep. Court- ney follows the adoption by California's Occupational Safety and Health Administra- tion (Cal/OSHA) of a groundbreaking health care workplace violence standard that was the result of state legislation sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United. Courtney also sponsored an earlier version of this legislation which passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 251-158 in November 2018 with strong bipartisan support. Here's an overview of the Workplace Vio- lence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act: Addresses an epidemic of violence: Workers in the health care and social assistance NEWS BRIEFS NNU sponsors federal bill to prevent workplace violence

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