EDITOR’S NOTE: Improving safety is a top priority among healthcare facilities, not only for patients but for healthcare employees as well. Workplace violence has been a challenge in hospitals and the number of incidents has increased dramatically in recent years. California has issued a mandate to enforce training programs in hospitals with the purpose of reducing workplace violence. The mandate demonstrates a commitment to reducing a violence at a regulatory level and is an example of the positive influence nurses can have on policies to improve quality of life in the workplace.
This article originally appeared in Modern Healthcare, April 2018
State law now requires California healthcare facilities to have comprehensive plans to protect clinicians from workplace violence.
The mandate, which went into effect April 1 and applies to all acute-care hospitals and skilled-nursing facilities in California, is part of a law that passed in 2014. The state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health worked over the last few years to establish the regulations with input from nurses.
The California Nurses Association strongly pushed for the mandate. Nurses typically bear the brunt of violence from patients and family members, with about 20% of nurses and nursing students across the U.S. reporting they have been physically assaulted on the job.
Many other states have adopted laws to address healthcare workplace violence, but California is the first to require hospitals to have a robust plan in place…
Read the rest of the article on Modern Healthcare.
