Dallas County on Wednesday reported 1,231 new coronavirus cases and 37 more deaths from COVID-19. Meanwhile, the foursome of Collin, Dallas, Denton and.
Half of Texas nurses experience workplace violence. A Texas lawmaker says it’s time to protect them.
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Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune
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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 to keep in mind when comparing Dallas and Denton’s COVID vaccine efforts
It’s easy to be jealous of Denton’s massive inoculation event. But there is a lot of context to keep in mind evaluating the Fair Park and Texas Motor Speedway sites.
No two Texas COVID-19 vaccine hubs are exactly the same.
With so much confusion and competition to get the life-saving doses which continue to be in short supply you’d be forgiven if while waiting for your number to be called, you get a little jealous looking over the county line to see thousands vaccinated in one fell swoop.