Urge members of Congress: Prevent Workplace Violence Against Health Care Workers!

We need your help to pass The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act and strengthen protections for health care workers in their workplaces. Take action by sending a letter to your members of Congress today.

Make your voice heard

Representative and Senators,

I am writing to you today about critical legislation that would protect health care workers and patients from violence in health care and social service settings

Workplace violence is a significant and growing threat to frontline care providers nationwide. Nurses report being punched, kicked, bitten, beaten, and threatened with violence as they provide care—and some have even been stabbed or shot. In most states, there are no enforceable requirements for health care employers to have workplace violence prevention plans. Employers frequently ignore reports of workplace violence, or even blame health care workers.

The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (S. 1176/ H.R. 2663) would mandate that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) create a federal standard requiring health care and social service employers to develop and implement comprehensive workplace violence prevention plans

A study published in 2021 reported on a survey of nurses, finding that nearly 85 percent of respondents said they experienced more than one type of workplace violence over the previous year. In NNU’s April 2022 survey, 48 percent of hospital nurses reported an increase in workplace violence, up from 30.6 percent in September 2021 and from 21.9 percent in March 2021. I urge you to sign on as a co-sponsor and commit to passing  S. 1176/ H.R. 2663 immediately.

Send the Letter

The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, or S. 1176/ H.R. 2663, was officially reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in April 2023! The bill would mandate that OSHA issue a federal standard requiring health care and social service employers to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan.

Health care is the most dangerous field of work due to workplace violence. In nationwide surveys conducted by National Nurses United (NNU), the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, the majority of nurses (81.6%) reported having experienced at least one workplace violence incident in the past year.

S. 1176/ H.R. 2663 is a critical opportunity to help protect health care workers and patients across the country with an enforceable, national workplace violence prevention OSHA standard. We are writing letters to Congress members urging them to pass S. 1176/ H.R. 2663 in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Use the form below to urge your members of Congress to sign on as cosponsors to S. 1176/ H.R. 2663. Thank you for standing with us!

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