CMCP Diversity Matters - May/June 2018

CALIFORNIA ADOPTS NEW
HEALTHCARE WORKPLACE
VIOLENCE PREVENTION
REGULATIONS
What Employers Should Know
Following the April 1, 2018 Deadline
BY: RICARDO LOPEZ, ASSOCIATE
JACKSON LEWIS P.C.
INTRODUCTION
On October 26, 2010, on what seemed like another
ordinary day at Napa State Hospital, Dana Gross,
a psychiatric technician, clocked in to work. At
around 4:30 pm, she took her dinner break and
went to Target to purchase some gum. Shortly
after returning to work and clocking back in, she
was attacked by Napa State Hospital patient, Jess
Willard Massey. 1 Without notice or any apparent
motive, Massey strangled Gross to death and left
her body in the hospital’s courtyard. At the time of
Gross’ death, staff members carried alarms to call
for help in case of an emergency; these alarms,
however, only worked inside the buildings, and not
outside, such as the courtyard—the location where
Gross’ body was found. 2
Massey stole Gross’ jewelry, $2, and the gum
she had purchased earlier in the day. 3 Autopsy
reports revealed that she died of asphyxia due
to strangulation. 4 The following year, the Napa
County Superior Court sentenced Massey to 25
years-to-life in state prison. 5
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE AMONG THE
NURSING COMMUNITY
Health care workers account for nearly 60
percent of the violent assaults that occur in the
work place, 6 and they are 16 times more likely to
experience violence. 7 Not surprisingly, nurses are
disproportionately affected given their extensive
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