HOSPITALS AND NURSING homes in New Jersey will be safer places to work, now that laws are in place to curb violence and to promote safe patient handling.

"These commonsense measures prevent injuries to workers and patients, save our healthcare system countless funds spent on medical claims, and help address the nursing and healthcare worker shortage," says Ann Twomey, an AFT vice president and president of Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), the AFT Healthcare affiliate in New Jersey. HPAE worked for two years to pass the measures, which were signed into law in January.

HPAE commissioned a survey of registered nurses last year. That survey found more than half (52 percent) of the respondents had been injured on the job. Moving and lifting of patients was a key concern, as was the increasing violence in hospital emergency rooms. The new laws address these concerns, requiring hospitals and nursing homes to reduce manual lifting or moving of patients, as well as to provide violence prevention training to staff, conduct risk assessment programs, and increase security measures.