FRANKFORT — A majority of health care workers have experienced some type of violence on the job, and Kentucky House Majority Whip Jason Nemes says perpetrators “need to be held accountable.” His House Bill 713 would mandate some steps for health care providers to take in hopes of keeping work ers safer. They would have to attest on an annual basis to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services that they provide staff annually and at the time of hire with violence prevention training and  maintain a system for employees to  report incidents of violence. Providers also would be required to  prominently display signage informing patients they could face felony charges if they are violent toward health care workers. Facilities certified to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs are already supposed to be conducting violence prevention training. This bill would require them to annually confirm that they are compliant. It passed the House health services committee unanimously on Thursday.  April Hester, an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and the co-chair of the Kentucky Nurses Association’s Governmental Affairs Cabinet, said around 63% of medical providers have reported injury from violent attacks in their workplaces but  “those numbers have escalated” since the COVID-19 pandemic and the exact number isn’t known.  “We are — we being health care providers — five times more likely to experience that violence,” Hester, who testified before the health committee last week, told the Lantern. “We don’t have data as to why.”  Patients come to medical facilities with acute illness and stress, she said. They might be “dealing with family members that are sick and ailing” as well.  “I don’t think that we can shift focus to the perpetrator, other than making them aware that acts of violence won’t be tolerated in facilities,” Hester said. “We can’t control the actions of others. What we can do is let them know that it’s not tolerated.”  ‘The rules don’t mean as much when you’re in pain’ Nemes, a Louisville Republican, said during the committee hearing that people who hurt health care workers could be acting out of character because they or someone they care about is in pain.  “I would think it’s just a matter of sociology or psychology that when you are in a very traumatic situation … they are more likely to do things they wouldn’t normally do. Maybe the rules don’t mean as much when you’re in pain, maybe when a loved one might be harmed, or maybe even yourself,” he said. “And so maybe that’s the reason, and I think that’s more of a reason for us to make sure that we’re protecting our health care workers.”  In 2024, the legislature made it a Class D felony to assault a health care worker.  “I want to make it clear: This isn’t a dementia patient that has no cognition of what they’re doing in that moment,” Hester said. “This is the individual coming into the facility that’s abusing a nurse.”  How facilities handle acts of violence varies, Hester said, though every facility should have a protocol in place for handling violence. All physical acts of violence should be reported to the police, she said.  Violence in the workplace can push health care providers to burnout, Hester said. Kentucky already has a shortage of health care providers, which is only predicted to worsen in the coming years.  The “fundamentals of nursing” include taking care of the whole patient — including recognizing any signs of mental distress or mental illness,  Hester said.  “From the perspective of, ‘what does that do to the nurse over time?’ We see high burnout rates in nursing. We’ve seen a lot of individuals leaving a profession post-COVID,” Hester said. “I think it’s mentally taxing on an individual being put in those settings. But I also think that it’s a good thing that we’re bringing attention to this matter so they can seek the help that they – we — need as well.”  GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The post KY Republican seeks to hold ‘accountable’ those who assault health care workers  appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less