Oregon bill aims to decrease violence against hospital workers

Oregon Public Broadcasting | By Rolando Hernandez

Published February 15, 2022 at 2:19 PM PST

Nurse Ali Strawn, left, evaluates patients coming into the emergency department via ambulance. Strawn and the team must assign nurses to each patient to get the ambulance crews back on the road, but the lack of beds can make this task challenging.

The American Nursing Association found 1 in 4 nurses are physically assaulted on the job. Currently, assault against a nurse is a misdemeanor but advocates say this isn’t enough.HB 4142 aims to address this issue by making any assault committed against a person performing their duties in a hospital a Class C felony. We’ll hear from Bill Shueler, the government affairs chair for the Oregon Emergency Nurses Association, on why this law is needed and KC Lewis, the managing attorney for Disability Rights Oregon’s Mental Health Rights Project, on how this law could affect people with mental illnesses.

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