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Rep. Wozniak introduces support plan for assaulted health care workers
RELEASE|August 29, 2019
Contact: Doug Wozniak

State Rep. Douglas Wozniak, of Shelby Township, today introduced legislation to help employees in Michigan’s health care sector recover from a traumatic event in the workplace.

“Violence and harassment is a growing issue in hospitals and medical offices around the country,” Wozniak said. “And Michigan has not been immune.”

In 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that health care workers experience violence in the workplace four times more often than other professions. That same year, the American Nurses Association found that over 50 percent of nurses reported being verbally or physically assaulted in the previous year.

Wozniak’s bill would establish confidentiality and legal protections for health care employees receiving critical incident stress management (CISM) services. CISM is a voluntary intervention process designed to help individuals dealing with traumatic stress in the workplace, carried out by a response team of trained peers. It does not replace formal psychotherapy, but has proved to be an effective initial response for health care facilities experiencing lost productivity due to critical incident stress.

In 2016, Gov. Rick Snyder signed Michigan’s first and only CISM statute, which provided public safety officers with confidentiality and legal protections, but not the health care professionals who provide emergency medical services on a routine basis. Wozniak’s bill would broaden the scope to include those individuals.

“My goal is to support the physicians, nurses and support staff that far too often place their own safety at risk to save the lives of others,” Wozniak said. “By protecting them legally we will encourage those experiencing trauma to speak out and ultimately reduce stigma surrounding mental health.”

House Bill 4862 was referred to the House Health Policy Committee for consideration.

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