Culpepper Urges Passage of Violence Prevention Bill

AONL board member Rachel Culpepper, DNP, RN, underscored the importance of passing the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees Act (H.R. 2584/S. 2768) this week during an American Hospital Association Capitol Hill briefing. The bipartisan legislation, supported by AONL, would provide federal protections against violence to hospital workers. Culpepper, general medicine service line director at Indiana University Health West Hospital in Avon, emphasized how workplace violence is perpetuating the nursing shortage. She said nurses who encounter physically or verbally abusive patients “leave their shift feeling demoralized and burned out.” Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., author of the Senate bill, stressed the need for Congress to enact the legislation this year. Urge your federal lawmakers to co-sponsor the SAVE Act through AONL’s Advocacy Action Center. (AHA News article, 7/31/24)