Healthcare workers say they’ve been facing more and more threats and violence since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The death of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson last November just highlighted the problem that lawmakers are looking to address this session.
AFT Connecticut Healthcare Vice President Sherri Dayton said every home healthcare worker has their story.
Hers came years ago when, as a visiting nurse, she said the family member of a patient threatened to kill her after she threw some moldy cheese into the garbage.
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“If we don’t get care, then we’re not going to be give care and that’s going to be devastating to the community,” Dayton said.
Lawmakers are proposing several bills to offer more protections, including increased training and avoid nurses going into homes alone if they fear violence.
Hospitals and health networks would also need to make it easier to know if a patient has a history of violence or harassment.
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“One of the most important things that we are looking at is how can we make sure that all the home healthcare workers are safe,” Sen. Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) and co-chairman of the Public Health Committee, said.
Republican lawmakers support the proposals, but they say more needs to be done.
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora also noted Grayson was tending to a patient in a halfway home for convicted sex offenders, which is where she was found dead.
He said the state needs to keep higher risk convicts separated across homes.
“Fundamentally, we have to have a conversation about reintroducing violent criminals back into society,” Candelora said.
The Connecticut Hospital Association also endorses the effort. The group said the state needs to do more to protect all healthcare workers, though.
CHA is asking for money for safety upgrades at certain buildings.
“A number of hospitals have started to think about, you know, the type of metal detectors in their emergency departments,” CHA Senior Vice President Paul Kidwell said.
Senate democrats said this issue is one of their top priorities and they’ve vowed to get something passed on healthcare worker safety.
They have a large bill proposing many of these changes scheduled for a public hearing Monday before the Public Health Committee.
