National Nurses United

NATIONAL N ational nurses United (NNU), the nation's largest union of regis- tered nurses, announced its support for the Workplace Vio- lence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, reintroduced on April 1 by Rep. Joe Courtney and Sen. Tammy Bald- win. The bipartisan federal bill would mandate health care and social service employers develop and implement a compre- hensive workplace violence prevention plan. The bill's reintroduction comes as nurses and hospital staff face an epidemic of violence. Just this year, nurses and hospital staff have been violently attacked at UPMC Memorial in Pennsylvania, HCA Florida Palms West Hos- pital, and HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital. Many more incidents go unreported or are pushed aside by hospital management. "Nurses need federal lawmakers to take swift action to protect us and our patients from preventable violence," said Nancy Hagans, RN and president of NNU. "For years, employers have refused to work with us to implement workplace violence prevention plans and to address the staffing crisis that creates the con- ditions for workplace violence. Congress can support frontline health care workers by requiring employers to invest in proven meas- ures to prevent violence in our workplaces." Health care and social service workers have some of the most dangerous jobs in the United States—they are nearly five times more likely to experience injuries due to workplace violence than any other profes- sion. According to a February 2024 NNU survey, eight in 10 nurses (81.6 percent) have experienced at least one type of work- place violence within the past year. Nearly half of nurses (45.5 percent) reported an increase in workplace violence in their units in the previous year. Hagans continued, "We applaud Repre- sentative Courtney and Senator Baldwin for reintroducing this critical legislation that will save so many lives. Studies have shown that the most effective way to reduce health care violence is to have a plan in place before violence occurs. Nurses across the country urge Congress to use its power to save lives and swiftly pass the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Serv- ice Workers Act." "No worker—especially those we rely on for care—should be injured or killed on the job. Unfortunately, this workforce endures more violence than any other workforce in America," said Rep. Courtney. "Our legisla- tion would put proven tactics into practice in hospitals and health care settings across the country to prevent violence before it happens. I'm grateful for the bipartisan coalition—backed by the support of the workers directly affected by this violence— who has worked tirelessly to move this legislation forward year after year." "Nurses, doctors, and anyone who is working to give our families health care deserve to work in a place that they are safe and free from violence, but in recent years we've seen workplace violence skyrocket," said Sen. Baldwin. "We rely on our health care workers every day to protect our com- munities, and in turn, we need to protect them from senseless acts of violence. That's why I am introducing legislation to give our health care professionals long-overdue basic protections." The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act follows California's groundbreaking health care workplace violence OSHA standard, which was the result of state legislation spon- sored by the California Nurses Association/ National Nurses United. Previous iterations of this legisla- tion were passed by the House of Representa- tives with strong bipar- tisan support in the 116th and 117th Congress. What the bill would do: • Requires federal OSHA to create a fed- eral workplace violence prevention standard mandating employers develop comprehen- sive, workplace-specific plans to prevent violence before it happens • Covers a wide variety of workplaces, including hospitals, residential treatment facilities, non-residential treatment settings, medical treatment or social service settings in correctional or detention facilities, psy- chiatric treatment facilities, substance use disorder treatment centers, community care settings such as group homes and mental health clinics, and federal health care facili- ties such as those operated by the Veterans Administration and the Indian Health Serv- ice, as well as field work settings such as home care and home-based hospice, and emergency services and transport services • Sets a quick timeline on implementa- tion to ensure timely protection for health care workers • Sets minimum requirements for the standard and for employers' workplace vio- lence prevention plans, based on the groundbreaking California legislation. These requirements include unit-specific assessments and implementation of preven- tion 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, protections for employ- ees to report WPV to their employer and law enforcement, among other requirements. — Staff report Nurses applaud reintroduction of federal bill to prevent workplace violence Reintroduction comes amidst a wave of violent attacks on nurses A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 5 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 11

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