Deadly Tulsa Hospital Shooting Renews Urgency for Stronger Violence Protection for Massachusetts Nurses and Healthcare Professionals as MNA Legislation Advances in House and Senate
Nurses and healthcare workers are assaulted more than police officers and prison guards, with the COVID-19 pandemic worsening threats and violence
BOSTON, June 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Massachusetts lawmakers advanced key healthcare violence prevention legislation the day after a gunman killed four people at Tulsa's Saint Francis Hospital campus on Wednesday, a horrific act that reminded nurses and healthcare professionals of local violence and sparked a renewed sense of urgency for stronger protections at healthcare facilities.
"Nurses and healthcare professionals have been dedicating themselves to safely caring for patients while suffering from an epidemic of violence for many years," said Katie Murphy, a practicing ICU nurse, and President of the Massachusetts Nurses Association. "Here in Massachusetts, we know all too well the potential for deadly violence in healthcare that was inflicted on innocent people in Tulsa. We know the pain of the victims and their families, we grieve with them, and we call for stronger protections for everyone in healthcare."
The legislation, sponsored by Senator Joan Lovely and Representative Denise Garlick, would:
Require healthcare employers to perform an annual safety risk assessment and, based on those findings, develop, and implement programs to minimize the danger of workplace violence to employees and patients.
Provide time off for health care workers assaulted on the job to address legal issues.
Allows nurses and healthcare professionals to use their health care facility address instead of their home address to handle legal issues related to an assault.
Require semiannual reporting of assaults on health care employees to District Attorneys.
Stats on Healthcare Violence
In the 2022 State of Nursing in Massachusetts ? a randomized survey of registered nurses across the Commonwealth ? nurses said they were increasingly concerned about workplace violence. There was an 11-point uptick in nurses calling violence a "major challenge" from 2021 to 2022 and a 16-point increase from 2019.
In the State of Nursing survey, 38% of nurses said workplace violence was such as challenge that it would impact their decision to leave the profession sooner.
The American College of Emergency Physicians reports nearly 7 out of 10 emergency physicians believe that emergency department violence is increasing and nearly 80% of these physicians acknowledged that these events have taken a toll on patients.
Last October, WBUR reported that two to three Massachusetts General Hospital nurses are assaulted every day.
In July 2021, a Lowell General Hospital nurse was severely assaulted in the emergency department, hit in the head with a fire extinguisher by a patient. WHDH reported that than 70% of emergency department nurses report being assaulted during their careers.
Two months later, WHDH reported on a "troubling rise in patient violence" in Massachusetts emergency departments.
In June 2017, Harrington Hospital nurse Elise Wilson was stabbed multiple times. The attack nearly killed Wilson, who required surgery. She later supported MNA workplace violence legislation along with her husband and colleagues.
Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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