Workplace Violence Prevention

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE IS NOT PART OF THE JOB.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare workers accounted for 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illness due to violence in 2018 (the latest year for which there are stats) and were five times more likely to be punched, kicked, bitten, beaten, choked and assaulted on the job than all other workers. Some have even faced stabbings and shootings. Plus, surveys have shown that the epidemic of workplace violence in healthcare has accelerated since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which precipitated the hemorrhaging of healthcare workers from hospitals across the nation.

The AIM study, published in November 2023, bears this out. According to the study, hospital staff experience 1.17 aggressive events — verbal and/or physical — for every 40 hours worked. In the study, more incidents of aggression occurred when staff had significantly greater numbers of patients assigned to them. In fact, “waiting for care” was one of the most common precipitants of aggression in the study.

Low staffing numbers raise the stress levels of both patients and staff. If a healthcare worker isn’t available to meet an agitated patient’s needs, the patient’s agitation accelerates, and verbal abuse and even physical violence can result. This is not acceptable. Workplace violence is not simply a part of the job.

EMPLOYERS ARE A BIG PART OF THE PROBLEM

National Nurses United, the largest labor union and professional association for RNs in the United States, conducted seven surveys in 2020 and 2021, collecting more than 83,000 responses from RNs and other healthcare professionals in every state. They published “Workplace Violence and Covid-19 in Health Care: How the Hospital Industry Created an Occupational Syndemic” in November 2021. Some key findings:

42% of nurses and healthcare workers reported that their employer ignores their reports of workplace violence incidents.

Just 39% of nurses and healthcare workers reported that their employer investigates workplace violence incidents.

59% of nurses and healthcare workers reported that their employer fails to change practices to reduce the risk of violence after an incident.

25% of nurses and healthcare workers reported that their employer blames or reprimands employees who report workplace violence incidents.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PREVALENCE OF WORKPLACE VIOLENCE IN HEALTH CARE HERE.

A patient threatened to beat me up and kill me. When I reported it, I was asked what I did to agitate the patient.

NANCY, NURSE PRACTITIONER

DO YOU BELIEVE YOUR HOSPITAL/FACILITY DOES A GOOD JOB OF PROTECTING YOU FROM WORKPLACE VIOLENCE?

Every year, PASNAP surveys its membership of more than 9,000 nurses and healthcare professionals across Pennsylvania about issues of critical importance, including workplace violence. The 2024 survey revealed both how prevalent and how undertreated the problem is for frontline healthcare workers in PA:

66% of respondents said they have personally experienced violence in their workplace (that's up from 50% in 2021).

72% of respondents said their hospital or facility does NOT do a good job of protecting them from workplace violence.

Incidents occur in Pennsylvania every day. Some make the news — nurses held with scalpels at their necks in Hershey, sexual assault of an RN in Pittsburgh, and a nurse stabbed in the neck in the Lehigh Valley — most don’t. Many are never even reported.

THE HEALTHCARE WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION ACT (HOUSE BILL 2247 & SENATE BILL 849)

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HEALTHCARE WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION ACT. CLICK HERE.

It is already a felony to assault a healthcare worker in Pennsylvania. We believe in strong enforcement of the law, but we also know that simply prosecuting offenders isn’t the solution. We want to stop workplace violence before it happens, not just punish it after it has occurred. That means: Changing the culture that treats violence and harassment as “just part of the job.” And ensuring that nurses and front line caregivers have a real voice in safety and security in our own facilities.

House Bill 2247 and Senate Bill 849 would require hospitals to establish workplace violence prevention committees, protocols, and reports; perform annual risk assessments; report instances of workplace violence; and maintain reports of incidents (plus supporting documentation) for no less than three years. It would also protect employees and other healthcare providers from retaliatory action such as discrimination, dismissal, or discharge for reporting incidents of workplace violence and give them a seat at the table to advocate for themselves and their colleagues, for their safety, and for violence prevention measures at their workplaces.

On May 7, 2024, during Nurses Week, House Bill 2247 passed out of the House Labor & Industry Committee on a party-line vote. The bill will receive a full vote on the House Floor (its very first) in June 2024.

May 7, 2024: During Nurses Week, the Healthcare Workplace Violence Prevention Act passed out of the House Labor & Industry Committee and is due for a full vote on the House Floor in June.

PASNAP members on the steps of the Capitol rotunda in Harrisburg on June 14, 2022.

Stop workplace violence before it happens! Harrisburg, June 14, 2022.