#EndNurseAbuse Passes House

The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309) legislation passed the House of Representatives just before Thanksgiving.

The legislation requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop standards requiring health care and social service employers to write and implement a workplace violence prevention plan to prevent and protect employees from violent incidents in the workplace.

The under-reported epidemic of workplace violence epidemic has devastating results on the healthcare industry, making nurses more likely to be exposed to violence than either prison guards or police officers.

Yet few health care employers have developed suitable plans to prevent workplace violence, putting nurses and others at risk daily, just for doing their job. Studies show that WPV can affect the quality of care and care outcomes, contribute to the development of psychological conditions, and reduce the RN’s of job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

The bill will now heads to the Senate.