With workplace violence against healthcare workers reportedly on the rise, two Northern Kentucky state lawmakers have advanced a bill to expand assault protections to nearly every healthcare worker statewide.
House Bill 194 passed the House Thursday on a bipartisan vote of 95-0. Should the bill become law, assault or attempted assault of health care workers at hospitals, health clinics, doctor’s offices, nursing homes and other locations would qualify as a felony carrying one to five years in prison.
If the assault occurs during a declared emergency, the stakes are higher: Each incident could be prosecuted as a Class C felony carrying five to 10 years in prison.
The bill’s lead sponsor is Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser (R-Taylor Mill), a former flight nurse and intensive care nurse. She told the House Thursday the bill expands a 2023 Kentucky law that focused on assault protections for emergency room staff only.
“We realized this is not extending the needed protection for our health care providers throughout the hospital,” she said. The bill’s primary cosponsor is Rep. Stephanie Dietz (R-Edgewood).
Lawmakers further expanded the bill Thursday to include workers at a “health clinic, doctor’s office, dental office, long-term care facility (nursing home), hospital, or a hospital-owned or affiliate outpatient facility” when it adopted an amendment from Rep. Steve Riley (R-Glasgow). Riley told his colleagues that workplace violence in health care is an industry-wide problem as he called for support of the amendment Thursday.
“We have a shortage. We know there are cases where they are being abused,” he said. “I’ll give you an example – a lot of times with dentists, they’ll have people come in and get angry because they won’t give them more pain medication. Long-term care facilities, people get angry because their mother or father is not treated the way they think they should be treated. So I think to extend this throughout the medical profession will give (workers) a sense of comfort, a sense of protection, and maybe another tool to get more medical personnel throughout the commonwealth of Kentucky.”
Kentucky is dealing with what the Kentucky Hospital Association last November called “an acute shortage of healthcare workers,” including a shortage of nearly 5,000 registered nurses at hospitals statewide as recently as late 2022, WKU Public Radio reported last year.
A high vacancy rate was specifically mentioned in the survey for psychiatric, critical care and medical-surgical nurses, based on the news report.
Nationally, workplace violence against nurses has been reported as a serious problem.
News out of the University of Kentucky last August cites an Axios report stating “about three in four nonfatal workplace violence injuries involved workers in health care and social work in 2020 (the most recent year for which statistics are available).”
Nearly one-third – or 27 out of 100 fatalities reported in health care and social service settings by federal agencies in 2013 – were caused by “assaults and violent acts,” according to 2016 workplace violence prevention guidelines from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The data appears to be the most recent available from the agency.
Closer to home, St Elizabeth Healthcare said in a statement released to LINK nky Wednesday that it supports HB 194 and its goal to protect more healthcare workers.
“St. Elizabeth supports HB 194, which expands current protection of emergency department staff to all areas of the hospital.” the statement reads. “Unfortunately, assaults on healthcare workers have increased in hospital settings throughout the country. Nurses, doctors, volunteers, and other staff report not just abusive language, but physical violence from patients and family members when caring for patients. Kentucky’s healthcare workers deserve protection to enable them to serve patients without the risk of physical violence or abusive behavior.”
HB 194 now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
The 2024 Kentucky General Assembly will consider legislation in the annual session no later than April 15, the last day lawmakers can meet in regular session under the state constitution. Hundreds of bills have been filed for consideration so far this session including a proposed state budget – the primary responsibility of Kentucky lawmakers this year.