Healthcare workers are 5 times more likely to be injured at work. Legislators want that to change.
DENVER (KDVR) — Healthcare workers are no strangers to violence, but some state legislators are trying to find ways to prevent that violence from increasing.
The Colorado Hospital Association reports that on average a nurse is assaulted in the state every 30 minutes and that healthcare workers as a whole are five times more likely than other professions to get hurt due to violence on the job. State legislators have introduced a new bill to address these trends.
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The bill, called Health-Care Workplace Violence Incentive Payments, would create financial incentives and rewards for hospitals that create plans to reduce violence against their staff. The incentives would be provided through the state department to develop a stakeholder group with recommended metrics, determine if there are funds available to assist in lowering the number of workplace violence incidents and develop legislative recommendations by Feb. 1, 2026.
The bill would exempt hospitals with under 100 beds from the reporting requirements.
On Tuesday, dozens of nurses and healthcare workers gathered at the Colorado Capitol with Sen. Kyle Mullica, who is a former ER nurse. He's also a primary sponsor of the bill, and called violence against healthcare workers a public health crisis.
'Barriers to reporting, such as fear of retaliation, lack of awareness and a culture that too often accepts violence as part of the job have allowed this problem to remain under-reported and unaddressed for far too long,' said Mullica, a Democrat representing Adams County.
The former nurse said the bill will focus on transparency and accountability, to ensure hospitals report progress or lack thereof. The bill has the support of the Colorado Hospital Association and Colorado Nurses Association.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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