The Oregon legislature has proposed to take action to address rising instances of violence against healthcare workers. There is pending legislation that would impose a myriad of requirements on multiple types of healthcare providers with regard to preventing and reporting workplace violence.
Healthcare Workers Are Often Victims of Workplace Violence
Healthcare workers face a number of risks on the job. Beyond the fact that they often work on their feet all day and are exposed to numerous potential illnesses, they also face the risk of workplace violence. Healthcare workers must deal with patients and their families who can become belligerent, and possibly hostile, at a moment’s notice. Accordingly, healthcare workers also face the risk of workplace violence. The Oregon Legislature is considering a bill that would require employers to institute protections for healthcare workers and report instances of violence in the workplace.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data reveals that healthcare workers have a rate of missing work due to intentional injury inflicted by someone else that is five times the rate of other workers. According to the statistics, the rate of intentional injuries to healthcare workers increased markedly from 2011 to 2018. Healthcare workers are at the front lines when patients and their families could be under an extreme amount of stress that they may not be able to control. Although this is certainly not an excuse for violence against healthcare workers under any circumstances, it is the main reason why they are more likely targets of workplace violence.
The problem is particularly pronounced in Oregon. A survey by the Oregon Nurses Association revealed that 92% of nurses stated that they encountered workplace violence in the past year. Although the Oregon Legislature recently tried and failed to criminalize workplace violence, there is now a legislative effort to address some of the root causes and fund prevention efforts throughout the state.
How the Proposed Law May Help Healthcare Workers
The law would address violence against healthcare workers in two primary ways:
- There would be a grant program to fund metal detectors, violence prevention training and other safety measures, although the amount of money allocated would still be determined
- Employers would need to implement a prevention plan and a response plan to investigate instances of violence against healthcare workers. As part of this obligation, employers must conduct periodic security and safety assessments to identify existing or potential threats of workplace violence.
One of the key aspects of the bill is that employers would need to flag certain patients as potential risks of committing violence against healthcare workers. The challenge is that the healthcare provider would need to balance the patient’s right to health care with the worker’s right to safety.
The onus is on employers to keep their employees safe, and they do not always live up to this obligation. Healthcare employers often expose their workers to dangers on the job, and they do not act to protect them ahead of time. However, the hospital industry is lobbying against the bill, claiming that half of the hospitals in Oregon are operating at a loss. Healthcare providers are claiming that they would need to spend large sums of money to implement the changes required by the bill.
Criminal Penalties Against Perpetrators Are Also Necessary
However, the proposed legislation falls short in that it does not impose specific criminal punishment for violence against healthcare workers. Effective prevention goes beyond planning and the identification of potential threats. The law also needs to have credible deterrence as a means of prevention. Although the initial law that was proposed in the Oregon legislature regarding criminalization of workplace violence did not pass, there is currently a new bill under consideration. This legislation has already passed in the Oregon Senate, and it is awaiting a hearing in the House.
Healthcare workers who have been injured on the job may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. If they can prove that their employer knowingly exposed them to a danger, they may even be able to file a lawsuit.
