AHA advertorial calls for zero tolerance for abuse against health care workers

The AHA and its American Organization for Nursing Leadership today published an advertorial in USA Today on the need for federal legislation to protect nurses and other health care workers from assault and intimidation. Nurses were hailed as heroes at the beginning of the pandemic, but now face increasing acts of violence and abuse in the workplace, notes AONL CEO Robyn Begley, AHA chief nursing officer, in the message from America’s hospitals and health systems.

“People who dedicate themselves to saving lives deserve a safe environment, free of violence and intimidation,” Begley writes.

AHA has urged the Department of Justice to support legislation that would give health care workers the same legal protections against assault and intimidation as flight crews and airport workers have under federal law.