It’s a sad truth that while healthcare workers are caring for others, they too often find themselves under attack.

According to 2022 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the incidence of violence-related healthcare worker injuries has steadily increased for at least a decade. And it has only worsened in the past two years. Studies indicate that 44% of nurses report experiencing physical violence and 68% report experiencing verbal abuse during the pandemic.[i]

The Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act of 2022 is a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 7. The legislation would extend federal protections against workplace violence to healthcare workers, similar to those afforded to flight crews and flight attendants. Federal protections provide more serious and consistent penalties, and the proposed legislation addresses not only assault but also intimidation.

Texas Health has worked for more than a decade at the state level advocating for workplace violence protections.

“In 2013, we were successful in getting a bill passed in the Texas Legislature which extended protections regarding assault to emergency room personnel while providing emergency services,” said David Tesmer, chief community and public policy officer, Texas Health. “The bill broadened the definition of emergency room personnel to mean ‘any person in a hospital emergency department, who, in the course and scope of employment or as a volunteer, provides services for the benefit of the general public during emergency situations.’”

Despite the advocacy of the American Hospital Association, Texas Hospital Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation and health systems and organizations throughout our state, workplace violence protections for healthcare workers beyond the emergency room have not been passed.

The SAVE Act of 2022 would address that need on a federal level. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee and could be passed by the end of 2022. We are asking our North Texas congressional delegation members to support the SAVE Act. And we are asking you, as a community or business leader, to show your support by contacting Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, as well as your respective House member, to urge the same.

^{[1] 1} E.g., Byon H, et al., Nurses’ experience with Type II workplace violence and underreporting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Workplace Health Saf. 2021 21650799211031233.