HR 2584 Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees Act

I am still trying to find an assigned bill number for the Workplace Violence Prevention for Healthcare and Social Service Workers Act. This is the bill that I really want to be passed because it is the only bill that I have found that holds hospitals accountable for protecting us. Below is a link from Joe Courtney’s website that discusses the bill in detail until there is a number assigned and I can find it on Congress.gov. The important thing to know about Congressman Courtney is that his wife is a practicing NP and he has seen exactly what nurses go through throughout her career. I saw Congressman Courtney speak last year and he is very passionate about protecting us. I am sure this will be assigned to a committee just like every bill that impacts nurses, but until I have the required information, this link will provide you with some details.

https://courtney.house.gov/issues/workplace-violence-prevention-healthcare-and-social-service-workers-act

However, while I was trying to find the assigned bill number for that bill, I found another one that I do like to a certain extent. This is HR 2584 Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees Act or SAVE Act. This holds those that commit an act of violence or intimidation against healthcare workers accountable. An act of intimidation that prevents any healthcare worker from carrying out their normal duties will result in the perpetrator receiving a fine and/or a 10-year jail sentence. If the act of violence or intimidation involves the use of a weapon, it will result in a fine and a 20-year jail sentence. While it is nice that there would be a federal law supporting a criminal sentence for these acts, there is no verbiage that will prevent the act from happening in the first place, in short, hospitals and administration still have no accountability in protecting us. Which leads to this…..it is supported by the American Hospitals Association (AHA). To me, this indicates that it will be passed eventually because the AHA has deep pockets and the best lobbyists that money can buy. Unfortunately, in this bill, nobody is holding them responsible to prevent the crimes in the first place, meaning they don’t have to spend money on prevention programs, which is why they support it. My fear is, that this bill will be passed as an “easy” bill and Congressman Courtney’s will not be passed because it will be an issue of “see we did something, we passed the other bill, we don’t need this one,” which is definitely not the case. We need criminal prosecution, yes, but not at the expense of preventing the crime in the first place.

This bill was introduced on 04/13/2023 and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. I am going to mull this bill over and draft a letter that indicates that this is a good start, but much like health and illness itself, we need prevention, not just after the fact treatment.

Let me know if you have any questions.