Editorial highlights violence health care workers face

A New York Times editorial describes how patients seeking care in the emergency department have attacked health care workers with increasing frequency. As a result, ED staff are facing burnout and leaving, resulting in short-staffed departments that can make it more difficult for health workers to provide high-quality care in a timely fashion. The violence also is causing fewer physicians and nurses to enter emergency medicine. Emergency physician Helen Ouyang, MPH, MD, a professor at Columbia University, wrote the editorial, and Burlington, Vt.-based University of Vermont Health Network filmed a video depicting examples of the violence health care workers face. AONL urges its members to ask their congressional representatives to support the Safety from Violence for Health Care Employees Act (H.R. 2584/S. 2768). (NYT editorial, 10/24/23)