Half of Texas nurses experience workplace violence. A Texas lawmaker says it’s time to protect them.
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State Rep. Donna Howard was working as an intensive care unit nurse in the 1970s when a patient pulled an intravenous drip out of his arm and walked toward her. She rushed to help him but didn’t see the metal urinal he was clutching behind his back until it was too late. He smacked her in the jaw with it, knocking her across the room.
Now praised as heroes of the pandemic, front-line medical workers have been routinely scratched, bitten or verbally abused by patients. Well over half of Texas' nurses reported being subject to workplace violence, according to a 2016 state study.
State Rep. Donna Howard was working as an intensive care unit nurse in the 1970s when a patient pulled an intravenous drip out of his arm and walked toward her. She rushed to help him but didn’t see the metal urinal he was clutching behind his back until it was too late. He smacked her in the jaw with it, knocking her across the room.
“I was briefly stunned by the hit,” said Howard, then working at the Brackenridge hospital in Austin. “But I continued working.”
For decades, health care workers have faced rampant violence in the workplace. Now praised as heroes of the pandemic, those front-line medical workers have been routinely scratched, bitten or verbally abused by patients. Well over half of Texas nurses reported being subject to workplace violence in their career, according to a 2016 state study.
5 Things Texas: 2021 Economic outlook, Vaccine rollout, Access to care DJ Wilson | Feb 1, 2021
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When we build our agendas for our annual conferences, we wait until as late as possible to get started. Then, we ask our Convening Panel, sponsors and readers this question: What are you spending your mental energy on? We then ask our network to tell us who has the best story to tell about the topics we heard about. This makes our agenda as practical and as actionable as possible.
So, with our 2021 Texas State of Reform Virtual Health Policy Conference coming up later this week, it’s no surprise that the topics we’re watching this month in Texas health care are also topics teed up on our agenda on Thursday, as you’ll see below.
Job offers of up to $12,000 a week lure Houston nurses to COVID-19 hot spots
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Darrelyn Mathieu, patient care assistant, enters a patient s room in the cardiovascular acute care unit, at Houston Methodist Debakey Heart and Vascular Center on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Houston. Texas hospitals, already facing an increase in patients brought by the pandemic, is dealing with poached nurses. Seven months after hospitals competed for ventilators, personal protective equipment and COVID-19 test, nurses have become the hot commodity, desperately needed around the country.Godofredo A. Vásquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographerShow MoreShow Less
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Darrelyn Mathieu, patient care assistant, provides care for a patient in the cardiovascular acute care unit, at Houston Methodist Debakey Heart and Vascular Center on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Houston. Texas hospitals, already facing an increase in patients brought by the pandemic, is dealing with poached n