Introduction
Workplace violence (WPV) is a problem that has hounded the healthcare industry for a long time. The violence manifests itself in the form of disruptive conduct, physical violence, or intimidation. WPV in the healthcare space happens from patients, visitors, or colleagues. For this reason, several bills aiming to guard against WPV in the industry have been proposed. Democratic representative from Connecticut proposed the workplace violence bill that would protect workers in healthcare and social services. The bill has passed through the House several times but has never passed the Senate to become law upon signing by the president. In the latest attempt, the bill passed the House but is awaiting voting in the Senate.
Main Provisions of The Bill
The bill would direct the issuance of final and interim standards based on current Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines. The bill would also require particular employers in the social service and healthcare sectors or related business entities to establish a framework to protect against workplace violence (H.R.1195, 2021). In addition, the bill requires compliance from hospitals and nursing centers as a Medicare provider agreement condition. Finally, the bill proposes to impose private sector and intergovernmental mandates that require compliance with OSHA standards by healthcare workers.
Background and Relevant Facts about the Bill
Workplace violence is a severe problem in the healthcare industry. WPV is especially bad because it disproportionately affects the vulnerable in the industry. The nursing profession is female-dominated, and nurses would welcome legislation to enhance safety in the workplace. However, any legislation has pros and cons, and HR 1195 is not unique in this respect as the issue might morph into a federal quagmire. The bill was proposed by Democratic representatives and seemed to have overwhelming democratic support, while Republicans generally oppose it. This party-line split is informed by the tradition of democrats tending to favor federal solutions while Republicans generally prefer state-level regulations. The bill has failed the Senate one time, but luckily, this time around, the bill could pass since Democrats control the Senate this term.
Relevant History Related to The Legislation, Pertinent Votes, and Issues That are Stalling the Legislation
During the 115th Congress, a Democratic Representative from Connecticut proposed the HR 1195 sponsored by 23 members but died in committee (H.R.1195, 2021). In the 116th Congress in 2019, the same representative proposed the bill that was sponsored by 228 members and passed the House 251-158. Senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin sponsored the bill in the Senate and was co-sponsored by 31 members but died in committee (H.R.1195, 2021). In the 117th Congress, Joe Courtney sponsored the same bill in February 2021 and was co-sponsored by 145 other members passing the House 254-166 (H.R.1195, 2021). The bill is yet to appear in the Senate. Issues stalling the bill include the fact that some stakeholders are against it because they feel it is superfluous to existing requirements.
Supporters and opposers of the bill
The bill seems to have taken a partisan route considering that co-sponsors were predominantly democrats. One hundred thirty-nine of the co-sponsors were Democrats, while only six republicans co-sponsored the bill. There was no nay from the 216 Democrats who voted on the voting floor while 166 Republicans voted nay with 38 voting yea (H.R.1195, 2021). On April 16th, 2021, Virginia Foxx, a Republican representative from North Carolina and Education and Labor Committee leader, issued a statement opposing the bill (Democrat Bill, 2021). The statement said that despite the bill purporting to solve a severe problem, it was designed to address it incorrectly (Democrat Bill, 2021). The statement said that the bill would make the process too prescriptive and install catch-all regulations that would hurt the industry after it omitted input from stakeholders.
Stakeholder Positions
A major stakeholder that supported the bill included the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP). In earlier attempts, the association had endorsed the bill and reiterated its support in 2021(Weiss, 2021). They argued that safety was a bipartisan issue that required everybody’s support. According to their statement, the bill needed to pass as it prioritized the vulnerable, noting that the violence disproportionately affected women (Weiss, 2021). Noteworthy, the American Hospital Association (AHA) has opposed the bill; they reasoned that the healthcare system has already shown commitment by establishing a culture of safety for patients, workers, and visitors (House Passes Workplace | AHA News, 2021). The AHA argued that hospitals have already implemented policies geared towards eradicating workplace violence and that the proposed OSHA standards by the bill are unwarranted (House Passes Workplace | AHA News, 2021). The association also found it unfair that the public would not get an opportunity to comment on the bill.
How the Bill Could Impact a Nurse’s Ability
Nurses constitute the largest proportion of healthcare workers. In addition, the nursing industry is female-dominated, implying the vulnerability of nurses to WPV. Naturally, nurses would welcome a bill that seeks to enhance safety in hospitals. The American Nurses Association has voiced its support of the bill. From a cynical perspective, the AHA has reasons to oppose the bill since they represent the employers in the industry. On the other hand, nurses have no reason to oppose the bill since it aims to protect workers. Some proposed mandates of the bill, such as annual staff training, investigating incidents, maintaining records for at least five years, and reporting and evaluating OSHA guidelines, are all positive propositions that would benefit workers (Robinson & Sporleder, 2021). For this reason, the bill would improve a nurse’s ability to provide better quality care as it fosters safety in the workplace that has a direct correlation with worker happiness. Moreover, since the mandates are at the employer level, the bill does not impact nursing licenses.
Actions That Nurses Can Take to Assist
The typical process of transforming an idea into law is drafting a bill, introducing it, taking it to the committee, subcommittee review, marking the bill by committee, voting for the bill in both chambers, and finally, assent by the president. In this case, H.R. 1195 bill, the process has passed the House and is awaiting action in the Senate. Workers and people of goodwill wishing for the bill to become law can help through activism. For example, a nurse in their personal capacity can call their senate office to urge their senator to vote for the bill. Another way nurses can push for the proposition is through protests and demonstrations outside the Senate or through social media tags. Nurses can also donate to advocacy organizations that lobby for the good of workers.
Conclusion
Workplace violence is a plague that has hounded the healthcare industry for a long time. The violence can come from patients, colleagues, and visitors. As nurses, it is essential to pay attention to current bills in Congress that could affect the industry. H.R. 1195 is a currently active bill in Congress that intends to enhance safety for healthcare and social services workers. After passing the House of Representatives, the bill is now awaiting deliberation in the Senate.
References
Democrat bill will overwhelm health care industries. (2021). Committee on Education & Labor Republicans.
House passes workplace violence prevention bill. (2021). AHA.Org.
H.R.1195—Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act. (2021). Congress.Gov.
Robinson, D., & Sporleder , J. (2021). Hr 1195 | understanding the WPV prevention for healthcare and social service worker act.
Weiss, J. (2021). ASSP statement-on wpviolence healthcare-act.