Review of a Bill: “Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act”

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One of the main foundations that may positively affect the working environment of a nurse in the absence of violence, harassment, and hazard from patients. The bill called “Workplace violence prevention for health care and social service workers act” aims to address the issue to a great extent. By obliging health care employers to undertake several actions, it may become one of the foundations of US nursing. Hence, it seems relevant to investigate this bill to determine its possible impact on nurses in the United States.

The act pursues the goal of eliminating the causes of violence within the scope of the US health care system and social services sector. In particular, the bill would oblige the Department of Labor to implement an occupational standard that would force health care providers to develop plans of health care workers’ protection from various hazards coming from patients. This plan should be created in one year if the bill will become law (“H.R. 1309 – 116th Congress,” 2019). Furthermore, the employers will have 42 months to execute the final plan regarding the investigation of incidents of violence, training personnel on risk management, and establishing acceptable conditions for staff to report actions of violence.

It should be noted that the bill was passed in the House with 251 votes in favor of the act; thus, it goes to the Senate next. Then, according to House Committee on Education and Labor (2019), “no provision of H.R. 1309 establishes or reauthorizes a program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of another federal program” (p. 36). Moreover, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not have any obliging standard that forces employers to conduct a program related to the prevention of workplace violence. It seems that the bill does not contradict or duplicate the US law, which contributes to its appropriacy and relevance. However, it might be supposed that the act will not pass the Republican-controlled Senate as most are against it.

The primary sponsors of the bill are Democrats (219 votes in favor); however, there also were 32 Republicans who supported the act during the House voting. Democrat Joe Courtney, a supporter of the bill, claims, “Workplace assaults against nurses, health care professionals, and social service workers occur more often than in any other profession” (“After 7-year,” 2019, para. 4). The crucial arguments of those sponsoring the bill are as follows.

It was stated that nurses are affected by injuries caused by violence at a workplace three times more than any other profession. Then, about 60% of hospital employees reported that they were a target of violence; moreover, workplace violence is underreported by these employees (Arnetz et al., 2015). The other notable reasons result from the fact that workplace violence significantly reduces the quality of health care services.

The central arguments of the ones against the adoption might be formulated as follows. Republican Virginia Foxx described the act as “rushed and ill-conceived” due to quite short terms for developing the prevention and investigation plans (Doherty, 2019, para. 9). Furthermore, Republicans argue that the bill will be too expensive, referencing Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimations. CBO calculates that “the mandates would be at least $100 million and would exceed the intergovernmental threshold” (House Committee on Education and Labor, 2019, p. 39). It seems reasonable to assume that the arguments of the act sponsors are more convincing in comparison with their opponents’ reasoning.

The key stakeholders in the bill – nurses and social workers – are to gain an opportunity to work in a violence-free environment if it passes the Senate. The act addresses an epidemic of violence, covers a wide variety of workplaces, sets a quick timeline on implementation, and sets minimum requirements for the employers’ plans (National Nurses United, 2019). Furthermore, according to National Nurses United (2019), the bill “requires federal OSHA to create a federal workplace violence prevention standard” (para. 7).

Nurses claim that the above statements might be considered as substantial strengths of the bill because they might serve as a solid foundation of safe working conditions. It should be noticed that from the angle of the crucial stakeholders, the act contains no provisions that would negatively affect them. Thus, they express no opinions and identify no points against the adoption of the bill.

As mentioned above, the absence of violence is a critical element of a safe working environment for nurses. The act aims to solve this issue and provide them with the feeling of being absolutely secured. Nurses, keeping in mind the latter fact, would be entirely concentrated on giving high-quality health care services, not being concerned about any potential hazards from patients. Hence, the stakeholders should do their best to assist with the passage of the legislation. For instance, they may conduct an advertising company to make the public give support via social media and other platforms that can affect policy-makers. They also may appeal to officials with the statistics regarding the high rates of violence at nurses’ workplaces.

In conclusion, it seems reasonable to emphasize the fact that the Workplace violence prevention for health care and social service workers act contains no provisions that would negatively impact nurses’ work. Most Republicans are against the bill, so it is essential to take action to influence them as they have a majority in the Senate and are likely not to pass the act. Finally, the arguments in favor of the bill seem more rational and significant than the ones against it.

References

After a 7-year effort, the house votes to pass rep. Courtney’s bill to curb workplace violence against health care and social service workers (2019). Web.

Arnetz, J. E., Hamblin, L., Ager, J., Luborsky, M., Upfal, M. J., Russell, J., & Essenmacher, L. (2015). Underreporting of workplace violence: Comparison of self-report and actual documentation of hospital incidents. Workplace Health and Safety, 63(5), 200–210.

Doherty, J. (2019). What the new bill on workplace violence prevention would mean for health care workers. Newsweek. Web.

H.R. 1309 – 116th Congress: Workplace violence prevention for health care and social service workers act. (2019). Web.

House Committee on Education and Labor. (2019). Workplace violence prevention for health care and social service workers act report. Web.

National Nurses United. (2019). House passes bipartisan bills to prevent workplace violence for health care and social services workers. Web.

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Review of a Bill: “Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act”

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