BILL ALERT: HB 1341 - HEARING MARCH 11 (Healthcare Worker Assault Bill)

The North Dakota Nurses Association (NDNA)

Supports HB 1341 - Healthcare Worker Assault Bill

The Senate Judiciary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 11th at 10:00 AM CT in the Peace Garden Room.  The deadline to submit testimony is 8:00 AM, March 11, 2025.

SUBMIT TESTIMONY

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What the bill does

• The bill equalizes the penalties for assaulting a healthcare worker in a healthcare setting.
• Currently, it is a class C felony to knowingly assault a healthcare worker, but ONLY in a hospital emergency room.
• The proposed bill would include healthcare workers throughout a healthcare facility caring for acutely ill patients, e.g. nurses caring for hospitalized patients.

Assault rate increasing

• Healthcare workers experience workplace violence at a rate almost four times that of other industries.[1]
• They are punched, slapped, scratched, choked, kicked, and grabbed inappropriately. This happens in all patient care settings, not just the emergency room.

Applies only to individuals who KNOWINGLY assault a healthcare worker

• Healthcare is a hands-on industry and there are always going to be patients who become violent through no fault of their own – mental health issues, dementia or reacting to a medication. That is not what this bill is about.
• The higher penalty is intended to hold accountable the growing group of individuals or family members who knowingly choose to assault a healthcare provider.

Data supports that higher penalty deters assaults

• Making assaults on healthcare workers a felony can be instrumental in deterring assaults.
• In 2017 when the N.D. legislature increased the penalty for throwing/spitting bodily fluids on healthcare workers, the rate of such incidents decreased.

Healthcare workforce shortages

• Workforce violence and burnout have exasperated workforce shortages.
• As of 2023, more than a quarter of healthcare workers (28.7%) and 41% of nurses indicate they intend to leave their jobs within two years.[2]

The difference between healthcare workers and other workers: emergency and hospital workers may not deny care.

[1] https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00642

[2] Rotenstein, L.S., Brown, R., Sinsky, C., & Linzer, M. (2023). Work overload with burnout. Journal of general internal medicine, 38(8), 1920–1927.