Workplace violence in the health care setting is 16 times greater than the general workplace. In Massachusetts, Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating has recorded the rate of assaults against health care workers as 4 times greater when compared with other industries. On June 3, 2010, The Joint Commission (TJC) released a sentinel event alert entitled "Preventing Violence in the Health Care Setting." This TJC alert suggests that increased training and education be provided with regard to identifying potentially violent individuals, de-escalating anxious behaviors, and managing violence. In addition, a research study describing the violence against nurses working in U.S. emergency departments was recendy published. In response to these risks and alerts, Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts recently signed an Act Relative to Assault and Battery on Health Care Providers that amends previous laws and makes it a crime for an individual to assault health care workers while they are working. Thus Massachusetts has joined the 38 other states with similar protections and provisions for legal recourse for nurses who are assaulted on the job. Soon individual hospitals and health care systems will have to demonstrate ways in which they are acting to protect their employees and agents while serving patients.
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