Health care workers advocate for legislation to make patient assault a felony
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Health care workers from across the state supported a bill last week that would create a felony offense for knowingly assaulting a medical professional.
House Bill 268 makes it a felony to attack nurses, emergency responders and other professionals, punishing offenders with up to 10 years in prison and/or $50,000 in fines.
“Nursing has become the most dangerous profession in Montana primarily because of violent assaults,” said Rep. James O’Hara, R-Fort Benton. “We cannot let violent assaults on health care providers become the new normal.”
Twenty-six people spoke in support of the bill. More than 100 nurses and health care workers came prepared to testify. Roughly 80 student nurses showed up were unable to speak due to the hearing being rescheduled.
“Unlike police officers and security guards, nurses are not trained to deflect a physical attacker,” said Vicki Byrd, director of the Montana Nurses Association.
Byrd said nurses are in the unique position of not being able to run away from their attackers, which often requires them to remain caring for individuals who have assaulted them.
“We deserve the same workplace safety protections that so many other professions enjoy,” Byrd said.
Brenda Donaldson, who works on the MNA’s “Your Nurse Wears Combat Boots” campaign, said currently police dogs are afforded more protection legally than nurses.
Several health care workers testified in support of the bill, retelling their experiences being assaulted by violent patients. Several nurses described being groped, slammed into walls and having bodily fluids thrown at them. They also noted that oftentimes these individuals only received minor citations, and in some cases were released back into the hospital’s care soon after.
But opponents of the bill argued laws against such assaults already exist.
“Most of the testimony I heard sounded like issues of underreporting, undercharging and not prosecuting,” said SK Rossi, director of advocacy and policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana.
Others felt the language in the bill was too broad, and could unfairly criminalize actions by patients suffering from dementia or psychosis.
Beth Brenneman, representing Disability Rights Montana, said although the bill did not directly target those individuals, the Montana Supreme Court has “narrowly” interpreted mental illness defenses.
“We have seen prosecution of individuals with serious mental illness … who have gone to prison,” Brenneman said.
