Feds press Bergen Regional Medical Center to better protect staff from assaults
Taken from The Record, September 4, 2015
After at least eight employees were attacked this year by patients at Bergen Regional Medical Center — including being barricaded in a room — federal authorities are calling on the hospital to beef up security, improve training and better screen its patients to protect staff.
In addition to barricading workers, patients have also punched a lab tech trying to draw blood and kicked and bitten a security guard, according to findings released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The agency cited the hospital and proposed a fine of $13,600.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) acted in response to complaints filed by HPAE, which represents RNs and non-nursing professional staff at Bergen Regional Medical Center, is demanding that management make immediate improvements, based on OSHA’s directives.
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In another case, a nurse suffered bruises and cuts after being pushed to the floor while intervening when a patient attacked another patient, the federal government found. Half of the injuries noted in the report required medical treatment.