Waiting on Congress To Make Hospitals Safe Workplaces

Once-safe workplaces for healing become settings for hurting doctors & nurses

You know matters must be getting serious when emergency docs call a healthcare emergency.

That’s exactly what happened a couple of weeks ago when physicians appeared before Congress to plead for passage of legislation calling for up to 20 years’ federal imprisonment for certain acts of violence against healthcare providers.

Escalating attacks on hospital-based doctors and nurses are attracting attention due to an assortment of studies and reports. A growing question for many in the profession is when lawmakers will do something about a spiraling phenomenon.

Press Ganey reports two nurse assaults every hour

]For example, healthcare survey company Press Ganey found from an analysis of the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators that on average, two nurses are assaulted every hour. The highest number of assaults occur in psychiatric units, emergency departments, and pediatric units.

Similarly, Cleveland Clinic reported confiscating 30,000 weapons from patients and visitors at its U.S. facilities in 2023. Weapons seized included not just firearms but also scissors, knives, and other tools that might be used as weapons. Cleveland Clinic officials noted an increase in firearm seizures, although not a significant one, possibly attributable to increased tracking and scanning measures.

SAVE act in Congress seeks to make hospitals safe workplaces

In 2023, congressional representatives Madelaine Dean (D-Pa) and Larry Bucshon, M.D., (R-Ind) introduced the bi-partisan Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act. The bill calls for penalties for people who “knowingly and intentionally assault or intimidate hospital employees” ranging from fines up to 20 years imprisonment for acts involving “dangerous weapons” or leading to “bodily harm.”

Its sponsors say the bill is modeled after current protections for aircraft and airport workers such as flight crews and flight attendants.

“The rapid uptick in violence against our nation’s healthcare professionals is negatively impacting their ability to provide quality care for their patients and is worsening levels of stress and burnout,” Dr. Bucshon said in a press release.

Panic buttons & safe staff rooms to protect healthcare workers

The bill would authorize $25 million for every fiscal year from 2023 to 2032 for funding training in de-escalation techniques and to address mental health crises. The funds would also support coordination with state and local law enforcement and add video surveillance, metal detectors, panic buttons and “safe patient” and “safe staff” room.

On the state level, a bill introduced in the Colorado Legislature last month would aim to prevent violence in a notably broad array of healthcare facilities, from hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, nursing care facilities, assisted living facilities, and community behavioral facilities.

Support for such legislation comes from the data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that healthcare workers in 2018 accounted for 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses due to violence.

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