Members of National Nurses United are calling for legislative action in the wake of the Oct. 22 shooting deaths of two employees at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
The union has about 225,000 members across the U.S., according to an Oct. 24 NNU news release. Methodist Dallas Medical Center lost two employees — Jaqueline Pokuaa, 45, and Katie Flowers, 63 — in the Oct. 22 shooting.
The incident is a reminder of why union members support the pending workplace violence prevention legislation in the U.S. Senate, according to the NNU news release. The bill, dubbed the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, would require healthcare and social service employers to implement a workplace violence prevention plan.
The legislation directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to require employers to write and implement their plan. It is a companion to legislation that passed the House of Representatives last year.
"We mourn the devastating loss of a nurse and a healthcare worker and offer our deepest condolences to their families and colleagues at Methodist Dallas Medical Center," NNU President Jean Ross, RN, said in the union news release. "No one should lose their life because they went to work. Healthcare settings should be places of healing, not harm. This unimaginable tragedy is a stark reminder that workplace violence in the healthcare industry is increasing and that we urgently need legislative action to ensure the safety of our caregivers, other healthcare staff and every patient or family member in those facilities."