HR 1309 - A Federal Call to Action on Workplace Violence in Healthcare, Maybe
by Paul Perryman, MSN, MS, RN, NE-BC With 70% of all injuries related to workplace violence occurring in health care and social services settings as of 2016, is government regulation needed to keep health care and social services workers safe? On November 21, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act which would require operationalizing new safety standards on the part of "covered facilities" and "covered services" identified in this act. This bill is the brain child of Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin who worked with House Representative Joe Courtney of Connecticut to sponsor this bill in the House of Representatives. Although some Republican support exists for this bill in the House, it was only slightly bipartisan and is now referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions where it may likely stay given the current pol...