WDRB: Kentucky Nurses Association calls for improvements to health care workforce violence law
“Recent violent attacks against health care workers in Kentucky have prompted renewed calls for stronger workplace safety protections, as medical professionals warn that the violence could worsen the state’s ongoing health care worker shortage,” Katrina Nickell reports for WDRB-TV in Louisville.
On Saturday, April 12, WDRB reported that a Jewish Hospital employee was stabbed while waiting for a ride outside the hospital.
“The attack is one of several incidents in recent months that have left health care workers shaken and advocates calling for immediate change,” Nickell reports.
In March, 911 calls from nurses at UofL Health Peace Hospital said they were caught in the middle of a fight between 15 juveniles at the Louisville psychiatric hospital, who were out of control, she adds.
Delanor Manson, CEO of the Kentucky Nurses Association, told WDRB that KNA is urging state lawmakers to strengthen workplace violence protections, adding that ongoing violence can contribute to the shortage of health care workers.
A 2023 law, sponsored by Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, was intended to address workplace violence in hospitals, but Manson told WDBR that the law’s vague language has resulted in minimal enforcement.
Another law, sponsored by Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, in 2024, extended those protections to contract workers, such as travel nurses, to health clinics, doctor offices, dental offices and long-term care facilities.
“Manson believes future legislation should include mandatory safety assessments, staff training programs and a requirement to report all workplace injuries. She emphasized the focus should be on creating safer environments, not blaming individuals involved in violent incidents,” Nickell writes.
Manson said KNA is working with Nemes, who said in a statement: “Two years ago our legislature, following the leadership of the Kentucky Nurses Association, passed a bill designed to protect these workers against workplace violence . . . I look forward to working with the Kentucky Nurses Association to improve that law and keep our nurses and other health care providers safe.”