ATLANTA – A Georgia Senate committee on Monday approved recommendations to lawmakers that it hopes will curb violence against health care workers, a trend that has increased in recent years.

According to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, more than 21% of registered nurses and nursing students reported having been assaulted and 50% of incidents of workplace violence occur in the health sector; The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2018 that 73 percent of all non-fatal injuries and illnesses in the workplace due to violence were attributable to health care workers in 2018.

“Overall, healthcare workers are 20% more likely to be a victim of workplace violence than any other industry,” said Vishal Bhalla, chief human resources officer for Atrium Health, which has more than a handful of locations in central Georgia , including Milledgeville. “And it’s even higher in nursing … In healthcare it’s definitely on the rise and individuals are being stressed a lot more from COVID.”

Bhalla said most violent incidents – not just physical – occurred in mental health areas and emergency rooms.

Recommendations from the Senate Studies Committee on Violence Against Healthcare Workers include: Establish warning systems, promote risk assessments during patient treatment, train hospital staff to deal with behavioral and potentially violent patients, and provide de-escalation and self-defense training similar to law enforcement.

“The committee learned that several law enforcement agencies are ready to work with, or have already worked with, hospitals in the area to help train health workers and deal with potentially violent people,” said Senator Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, the chairman of the committee. “This training emphasizes the same de-escalation techniques used by law enforcement agencies as well as some basic self-defense.”

Several health institutions, such as Atrium Health, have already taken preventive measures to curb violence. Bhala said that more than 82% of its employees have been trained in de-escalation and personal security techniques, security awareness behaviors, and emergency management in addition to panic buttons and police security measures.

Dr. Mohak Dave, an emergency doctor with the Northeast Georgia Health System, suggested that the committee also add tougher penalties for grievous bodily harm and bodily harm to cover all health care workers, not just those in emergency rooms, which are more likely to experience violent incidents.

Most states – nearly 40, including Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi – have laws that provide higher penalties for assaulting nurses; However, Georgia is one of the few states – including Hawaii, North Carolina, and South Carolina – with penalties for violence against health care workers that only apply to emergency room staff, according to Pflegeworld.org.

“I gave a real-life example of what we even see here in the emergency rooms. We have inpatient nurses who come to treat patients who are waiting for a bed in the emergency room, ”said Dave, member of the committee. “If this healthcare worker was attacked while waiting for a bed in the emergency room, then he is covered by the standard. But if this patient had a bed available and went upstairs and didn’t have that … Employees were attacked, they have lost this protection and that makes no sense. “

The committee eventually incorporated Dave’s proposal in its final recommendations on Monday. Kirkpatrick, however, implied doubts about changing the law specifically on this matter.

Kirkpatrick said reported crimes against health care workers are grouped with other public safety reports, suggesting that it is difficult to pinpoint the need for penalty increases specifically for cases involving health care workers.

“At this point there is no way to separate them like that [Georgia] Code reads, ”said Kirkpatrick. “In addition, there are already penalties for aggravated assault and aggravated assault, so the Prosecutor’s Office and the Defense Chamber did not believe that increasing these penalties would deter or change anything.”