A newly assigned bill aims to protect healthcare workers on the job, and requires hospitals and healthcare facilities to come up with safety plans.

SB 240 requires all hospitals in healthcare facilities to adopt a workplace violence prevention program, something that is not currently required. Also included under this new law would be ongoing training and new safety practices.

“They have to put a committee together, they have to develop policies that have specific spelled out criteria in the law, they have to have a plan to how to respond to these incidents when they occur —and part of that policy has to be anti-retaliation policies for these nurses,” Jack Frazee, a spokesperson for the Texas Nurses Association said.

Healthcare facilities will also be held accountable for the time taken to respond to an employee who is assaulted under this law.

“If you are assaulted on the job, there has to be an immediate response,” Frazee said. “Not only to gather information to about what happened, but also to provide emergency services to anybody that's been affected if those are necessary."

Dalia De Luna, a nurse who said she’s come face to face with workplace violence over the years, said protecting healthcare workers needs to be a priority.

“It's not just nursing personnel, this covers physicians, physicians assistants and other hospital staff,” De Luna said.

The new law takes effect on Sept. 1, 2023. Hospitals and healthcare facilities will have until September 2024 to put a workplace violence prevention plan in place.