AAMC Sponsors Capitol Hill Briefing on Violence Against Health Care Workers

The AAMC co-sponsored a Sept. 17 Capitol Hill briefing, "Protecting Those Who Care: Addressing Violence Against Health Care Workers," alongside nine health care organizations, including the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association, the Children's Hospital Association, and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. The briefing, held on National Patient Safety Day and National Physician Suicide Awareness Day, brought together health care leaders, providers, patient advocates, and policymakers to discuss the impact of workplace violence on the health care workforce and patient safety. 

Panelists included Brent Rau, MD, medical director of the Allegheny General Hospital Emergency Department and vice chair of Emergency Medicine at Allegheny Health Network, who served as moderator; Tiffany Covarrubias-Lyttle, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, associate professor of nursing at the University of Lynchburg; Sheila Roth, PhD, LCSW, professor emeritus at Carlow University; Elizabeth Wells, MD, executive vice president, chief clinical officer, and physician-in-chief at Children's National Hospital; and Jonathan Ripp, MD, MPH, chief wellness officer and senior associate dean for well-being at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. 

Following the briefing, the sponsoring organizations issued a joint statement (PDF) reaffirming their commitment to protecting the safety and well-being of the health care workforce, noting that health care and social service workers experience workplace violence at higher rates than workers in any other sector. The organizations called for investments in evidence-based prevention approaches, stronger systems to respond to violence, and a culture of safety, while emphasizing that a safe and supported health care workforce is essential to delivering high-quality patient care.