A bill introduced last month in Missouri aims to protect healthcare workers from violent attacks by patients, according to NBC affiliate KSDK.
Under the bill, healthcare facilities may not require employees to physically engage with a person exhibiting violent tendencies "if there is a reasonable fear that such engagement may result in bodily harm" to the worker.
The bill also prevents healthcare facilities from requiring an employee to become certified, or otherwise to participate, in training that limits physical control or restraint of violent patients to specific holds or positions.
Legislation protecting healthcare workers is gaining steam at the federal level and in states. Most recently, a bill introduced Jan. 10 in Colorado would require healthcare facilities to develop and regularly review a workplace violence prevention plan, among other provisions.
At the federal level, members of Congress and hospital and physician leaders in late January highlighted the bipartisan Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees Act at a Capitol Hill briefing, according to the American Hospital Association.
Additionally, several members of Congress recently introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to reauthorize the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, a law that provides federal funding to prevent suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioral health conditions among healthcare workers.
Jon Doolittle, president and CEO of the Missouri Hospital Association, expressed reservations about the bill, which he shared in the following statement with KDSK: "Any violence against a healthcare worker is unacceptable. Hospitals take these incidents very seriously and have systems in place to prevent and respond to them.
"Violence is a threat to our caregivers, patients and the healing environments of our organizations. Despite a myriad of approaches and dedicated resources, there is no easy solution to the scourge of physical and verbal assaults that occur in hospitals and other health care spaces.
"Our responses are threat based, and hospitals need all the tools available to identify and manage risks to reduce the threat of violence in our facilities. Elements of this legislation could harm hospitals' ability to balance their responsibilities to provide care to patients and mitigate the risk to staff. However, as a community of hospitals, we are always open to ideas and conversations about how to move toward a safer environment for staff, patients and the public."