State lawmakers seek to protect health care workers from violence

In response to the rise in violence against health care workers, lawmakers in several states are introducing legislation to protect people working in health care facilities. This week, Becker’s Hospital Review described efforts in Oregon, Utah, Michigan and Maryland. Proposed laws would impose fines or imprisonment on those who threaten or assault people within health care facilities. Last month, the president and CEO of New Orleans-based Ochsner Health called on the Louisiana state legislature to make violence against health care workers a felony after a nurse was attacked at one of the health system's hospitals. (Becker’s Hospital Review article, 2/2/22)