Another round for hospital safety bill
Staff victims of attacks by patients
Hospital staff members who say they have been victims of workplace violence head to Beacon Hill today, hoping to resuscitate a years-old bill that would bump up safety measures at Massachusetts hospitals.
“Unfortunately, I have been a victim of workplace violence,” said Karen Coughlin, a nurse at Taunton State Hospital, who will testify today before legislators. “I’ve been spit at, I’ve been punched, I’ve been kicked, have had weapons pulled on me. I’ve had my hair pulled.
“I’m hoping and praying this will pass,” she said. “This is something that affects everyone in the health-care setting.”
Coughlin and other hospital employees will testify before the Joint Labor and Workforce Development Committee in support of H. 1007, an Act Requiring Health Care Employers to Develop and Implement Programs to Prevent Workplace Violence.
The legislation is a modified version of a bill first introduced 15 years ago, and its proponents say this could be its year to succeed.
In its latest incarnation, the measure requires all Bay State hospitals to develop up-to-date violence prevention programs based on yearly safety assessments. It also includes language about mandated time off for victims of workplace attacks.
“We do have some hospitals that have taken initiative and have made some steps,” Coughlin said. “Unfortunately, that is not so with all facilities. This would cover every health-care employee.”
The bill has had more than 80 co-sponsors, and another 60 have signed a letter of support, said state Rep. Denise Garlick (DNeedham).
Garlick, a registered nurse, said the health-care climate has become more complex in recent years and employees need protection more than ever.
“One of our great concerns is emergency rooms that have many patients, and are understaffed, and patients may be violent for a number of reasons,” Garlick said.
But Garlick’s bill runs the risk of complicating rather than clarifying matters, according to the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association.
“The current proposed legislation is problematic in some respects because it poses redundancy to current standards,” said Pat Noga, association vice president for Clinical Affairs.
But, Noga said, certain provisions, such as the mandated employee leave, “deserve further consideration.”
Also attending tomorrow’s hearing are nurses from Health Alliance Hospital in Leominster and Boston’s Brigham and Women’s hospital, where heart surgeon Dr. Michael Davidson was shot and killed two years ago by the son of a deceased patient who then killed himself.
Nurses at Brigham have since raised safety concerns. A Brigham spokesperson said the hospital would not have a comment on the bill until after the hearing today.