20 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 4
N
owadays workplace violence injuries rarely
occur at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmi-
chael, Calif., a suburb of Sacramento. But this change
was no accident: It is the result of nurses organizing
and using California's workplace violence prevention
law to make their workplace safer, and provides an
excellent example of how nurses can work to prevent
violence in the first place instead of healing from its
damage after the fact.
From 2019 to 2021—two or three workplace violence injuries
were happening every month, most often in the emergency depart-
ment, but also on the medical floor where long-term patients
awaited placement in the Dignity Health facility where more than
1,000 nurses work. Agitated patients were physically lashing out,
resulting in scratches, bites, sprains, and even a separated shoulder
and dislocated finger. Some of the injuries were so serious that staff
members were unable to work for months.
"We had been having discussions with management on work-
place violence issues for years," said Frank Bartuska, an RN in the
ED, a member of the professional practice committee (PPC), and
chief nurse representative since October 2023.
After this rash of injuries, nurses decided to take action. Bartuska
and Rebecca Ponziano, an RN in the interventional radiology unit
and member of the PPC at the time, began talking with their
employer about what could be done to prevent such violence from
recurring at the hospital. Reporting procedures were in place, but
whenever a violent incident occurred, the reports seemed to go into a
black hole. Clearly, something had to change.
"There was no mechanism to identify what was going on," said
Bartuska, who has been a nurse for 30 years, including 11 years at
Mercy San Juan. "These things would get shuffled under the rug.
An
Ounce of
Prevention
RNs show that organizing to
enforce workplace violence
prevention standards can
make huge improvements.
By Chuleenan Svetvilas
Frank Bartuska, an emergency
department RN, worked hard
with colleagues to successfully
prevent workplace violence at
his Sacramento-area hospital.
