Assembly Committee To Review Bill To Protect RNs' Rights To Workers Comp For Hospital Illness And Injuries

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 21 Apr 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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An important bill to assure access to workers' compensation for registered nurses who suffer workplace injuries or contract blood-borne diseases such as MRSA and hepatitis will have its first airing in the Assembly Insurance Committee this week.

AB 664, authored by Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, is sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. It is sparked by "an alarming rise in workplace injuries for RNs who all too often then must endure long battles to assure access to workers' comp on top of their pain and suffering," notes CNA/NNOC Co-president Deborah Burger, RN.

What: Assembly Insurance Committee Hearing on AB 664
When: Wednesday, April 22, 9 a.m.
Where: State Capitol, Room 437, Sacramento

According to CNA/NNOC, AB 664 is also a gender equity issue. Other public safety employees, notably police officers and firefighters, already have guaranteed access to the workers' compensation system for MRSA, HIV, cancer, leukemia, meningitis, back injuries, and other work-related illnesses and injuries. Yet presumptive eligibility for workers' comp is denied to RNs, more than 90 percent of whom are female.

"By the nature of their work, which involves ill patients, contagious diseases, and medical equipment, RNs are in constant danger of being exposed to a variety of illnesses, and becoming injured by lifting and moving patients or by the use of medical equipment," said CNA Legislative Director Bonnie Castillo, RN.

According to 2007 Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, healthcare workers lead the nation in the highest musculoskeletal (MSD) injury rates, and nursing ranks third in the number of work days missed due to illness and injury. Blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis and MRSA are constant work-related hazards for hospital employees, as well as patients. MRSA is one of the most virulent types of antibiotic-resistant staph infections. Although infection control measures help to stop the spread of MRSA and other blood-borne diseases, they do not eliminate the job-related threat of contracting MRSA or other blood-borne diseases.

Source
California Nurses Association

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