National Nurses United

industry face extremely high rates of work- place violence. According to a 2018 Bureau of Labor Statistics fact sheet on health care workplace violence, the health care and social service industries experience the high- est rates of injuries caused by workplace violence and are five times as likely to suffer a workplace violence injury than workers overall. A 2018 report by the Joint Commis- sion, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data showed that violence-related injuries are four times more likely to cause health care workers to take time off from work than other kinds of injuries. Yet, the actual num- ber of violent incidents involving health care workers is likely much higher because reporting is voluntary. Requires federal OSHA to create a federal workplace violence prevention standard man- dating employers develop comprehensive, workplace-specific plans to prevent violence before it happens. Covers a wide variety of workplaces, including hospitals, residential treatment facilities, non-residential treatment set- tings, medical treatment or social service settings in correctional or detention facili- ties, psychiatric treatment facilities, substance use disorder treatment centers, community care settings such as group homes and mental health clinics, and fed- eral health care facilities such as those operated by the Veterans Administration and the Indian Health Service, as well as field work settings such as home care and home-based hospice, and emergency serv- ices and transport services. Sets a quick timeline on implementation to ensure timely protection for health care workers. Sets minimum requirements for the stan- dard and for employers' workplace violence prevention plans, based on the ground- breaking California legislation. These requirements include unit-specific assess- ments 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 workplace violence to their employer and law enforcement, among other requirements. "This legislation will hold employers accountable, through federal OSHA, for having a prevention plan in place to stop workplace violence before it occurs," Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, RN, president, National Nurses United. "This is literally a life-or- death issue, especially during Covid-19, when nurses and other health care workers already face so many stressors and risks. Every moment we wait puts lives in jeop- ardy. We all deserve to feel safe in hospitals, clinics, and social service set- tings, which should be places of healing." —Kari Jones J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 1 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 5 MINNESOTA I n february, Minnesota Nurses Associ- ation President Mary C. Turner, RN was selected to serve on the national Biden- Harris Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force. Turner is the only registered nurse to serve on this advisory board to advise the White House on how to ensure all people in the United States have access to Covid-19 resources. She was personally selected by President Joe Biden. "I'm both honored and humbled to serve the country," Turner said. "The voices of the nation's registered nurses need to be part of the conversation on how we end the effects of this vicious virus." Turner said she was contacted by Dr. B. Cameron Webb, Biden's senior policy advi- sor for Covid-19 equity. Turner was part of a press conference roundtable the president held in November, and, since then, she has also had discussions with Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, who will chair the task force. Nunez-Smith said she was moved by Turner's testimony that day as was then- President-elect Biden. "I've seen how this pandemic has dispro- portionately hurt people in our community," Turner said. "At my hospital, we have a diverse patient population, and, as nurses, we can see what the data is telling us. More patients in our communities of color. More effects of the virus. We have to end this by fairly distributing our resources to everyone." Turner continues to work as an intensive care unit nurse in the Covid-19 unit at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minn. She was reelected president of Min- nesota Nurses Association in November. "We are thrilled that MNA/NNU Presi- dent Mary C. Turner will be an incredible voice of patient advocacy on this task force. It is a relief and an honor to know that the Biden administration will be listening closely to working, direct-care nurses in their Covid- 19 response," said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN. —Rick Fuentes MNA President Mary Turner, RN to serve on Biden-Harris task force Said she is proud to represent nurses on group advising on Covid-19 equity

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