Lawmakers Work to Protect Healthcare Workers

This press release from Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) was published on 2026-09-10 and titled "Lawmakers Work to Protect Healthcare Workers".

Lawmakers Work to Protect Healthcare Workers

Lawmakers Work to Protect Healthcare Workers Monday, May 25, 2026 CG46414 Thursday, September 10, 2026 WorkersCompensation.com Lawmakers Work to Protect Healthcare Workers By Liz Carey Legislation Look-in Washington, DC (WorkersCompensation.com) – As healthcare workers continue to face attacks on the job, law makers are proposing legislation that would protect them, but only some laws are seeing any movement. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, while healthcare professionals make up only 10 percent of the U.S. workforce, they are the subject of nearly half (48 percent) of the recorded nonfatal injuries due to workplace violence. A National Nurses United survey in 2024 found that 81.6 percent of nurses have reported at least one type of workplace violence within a 12-month period, and a survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians found that 91 percent of emergency physicians reported being the victim of or knowing someone who had been the victim of a violent The issue has reached the federal level. In March, the FBI released resources to help healthcare organizations identify, assess and prevent workplace violence. “Developed through an ongoing collaboration between the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and the American Hospital Association (AHA), the resources provide practical guidance for strengthening violence prevention efforts in health care environments,” the bureau said. “Seventeen subject matter experts, including mental health professionals, researchers, medical professionals, and law enforcement representatives, contributed to the development of the materials. This effort marks the first time the FBI has worked with a healthcare organization to develop comprehensive guidance focused on behavioral threat assessment and management.” The guidance – available on the AHA’s website – includes templates, models and implementation references to support hospitals and health systems in establishing a proactive approach to identifying and mitigating potential threats, the bureau said. But still, the attacks continue. In Milwaukee, a healthcare worker was attacked inside Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital. Officials said the victim, a physician’s assistant, reported that the suspect, Kenneth Flagg, 36, was at the hospital for treatment. As the victim was talking to him, Flagg took out a tool battery he had brought with him and struck the victim in the head. Other reports have come in from across the country – in Miami Beach, a teenager body slamming a doctor leaving him severely injured; in Tewksbury, Mass., a man at a psychiatric hospital punching a hospital employee in the face; in Butler, Pa., an emergency room patient security guards were trying to calm down struck a nurse in the face multiple times, elbowed him in the head and tried to bite him; in San Francisco, a patient at Zuckerburg San Francisco General Hospital fatality stabbed a hospital social worker several times with a 5-inch kitchen knife. In May 2025, legislation to increase penalties on those who attack healthcare workers was introduced in Congress. The Save Healthcare Workers Act e created legal penalties for individuals who knowingly and intentionally assaulted hospital employees, modeled after legislation protecting aircraft and airport workers like flight crews and flight attendants passed after the country saw an uptick of unruly passengers attacking flight crews. In the House, U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, sponsored H.B. 3178, and in the Senate, U.S. Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., and Angus King, I-Maine, sponsored companion legislation, SB 1600. The legislation was supported by the American Hospital Association. “Every day, health care workers bravely serve our communities, providing lifesaving care often under stressful circumstances,” AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said. “It is unacceptable that these dedicated caregivers regularly face the threat of violence while working to help patients heal. Ensuring a safe working environment for health care providers must be a national priority… Protecting the health care workforce is important for their safety and for the overall quality of care.” The bills were referred to the Judiciary Committees in both bodies, where they have sat since May 2025. Another piece of legislation, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, was introduced by U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., into the House in April 2025. That bill would require the U.S. Department of Labor to address workplace violence in health care, social service, and similar sectors by issuing an occupational safety and health standard that requires healthcare employers to take actions to protect workers and other personnel from workplace violence by developing a workplace violence prevention plan, promptly investigating incidents of workplace violence, and providing relevant training and education to employees, and would require h