Business & Economy

Workplace violence affects health workers, study says

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By ERIC FREEDMAN
Capital News Service
LANSING — Workers in hospitals and other health care facilities are at higher risk of becoming victims of workplace violence than employees in other jobs, a new federal study found. Kicking, hitting and beating are the most commonly reported forms of on-the-job violence that caused health care employees to miss days at work, according to the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan investigative agency of Congress. The Michigan Nurses Association, which represents unionized hospital nurses, cited two such incidents. In one, a professional wrestler being treated at an Alpena emergency room twisted a nurse’s arm and damaged her shoulder. In the other, a nurse who was eight months pregnant was kicked in the stomach.

Government

House bill would limit nurse workload

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By WEI YU
Capital News Service
LANSING – Rep. Jon Switalski, D-Warren, wants to require hospitals to come up with a plan to set minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and to ban mandatary overtime for nurses. The bill aims to mandate that hospitals maintain detailed staff-to-patient ratios specified in the bill. More than 500 nurses from the state recently rallied at the Capitol to bring attention to the issue. Jeff Breslin, president of the Michigan Nurses Association, a union which represents more than 10,000 registered nurses around the state, said the rally was successful. It showed legislators that nurses are passionate about advocating for their patients not just inside the hospital, but also out in communities and in our political system as well, he said.