[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 133 (Tuesday, July 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40916-40917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17407]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[60Day-11-11IP]
Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and
Recommendations
In compliance with the requirement of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for opportunity for public comment on
proposed data collection projects, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic summaries of proposed projects.
To request more information on the proposed projects or to obtain a
copy of the data collection plans and instruments, call 404-639-5960
and send comments to Daniel Holcomb, CDC Reports Clearance Officer,
1600 Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an e-mail to
[email protected].
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways
to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology. Written comments should be received
within 60 days of this notice.
Proposed Project
Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in NJ Healthcare
Facilities--New--National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Background and Brief Description
The long-term goal of the proposed project is to reduce violence
against healthcare workers. The objective of the proposed study is two-
fold: (1) To examine healthcare facility compliance with the New Jersey
Violence Prevention in Health Care Facilities Act, and (2) to evaluate
the effectiveness of the regulations in this Act in reducing assault
injuries to workers. Our central hypothesis is that facilities with
high compliance with the regulations will have lower rates of employee
violence-related injury. First, we will conduct face-to-face interviews
with the chairs of the Violence Prevention Committees who are in charge
of overseeing compliance efforts. The purpose of the interviews is to
measure compliance to the state regulations (violence prevention
policies, reporting systems for violent events, violence prevention
committee, written violence prevention plan, violence risk assessments,
post incident response and violence prevention training). Second, we
will also collect assault injury data from facility violent event
reports 3 years pre- regulation (2009-2011) and 3 years post-regulation
(2012-2014). The purpose of collecting these data is to evaluate
changes in assault injury rates before and after enactment of the
regulations. Third, we will conduct a nurse survey. The survey will
describe the workplace violence prevention training nurses receive
following enactment of the New Jersey regulations.
Healthcare workers are nearly five times more likely to be victims
of violence than workers in all industries combined. While healthcare
workers are not at particularly high risk for job-related homicide,
nearly 60% of all nonfatal assaults occurring in private industry are
experienced in healthcare. Six states have enacted laws to reduce
violence against healthcare workers by requiring workplace violence
prevention programs. However, little is understood about how effective
these laws are in reducing violence against healthcare workers.
We will test our central hypothesis by accomplishing the following
specific aims:
1. Compare the comprehensiveness of healthcare facility workplace
violence prevention programs before and after enactment of the New
Jersey regulations; Working hypothesis: Based on our preliminary
research, we hypothesize that enactment of the regulations will improve
the comprehensiveness of hospital workplace violence prevention program
policies, procedures and training.
2. Describe the workplace violence prevention training nurses
receive following enactment of the New Jersey regulations; Working
hypothesis: Based on our preliminary research, we hypothesize that
nurses receive at least 80% of the workplace violence prevention
training components mandated in the New Jersey regulations.
3. Examine patterns of assault injuries to workers before and after
enactment of the regulations; Working hypothesis: Based on our
preliminary research, we hypothesize that rates of assault injuries to
workers will decrease following enactment of the regulations.
Healthcare facilities falling under the regulations are eligible
for study inclusion (i.e., general acute care hospitals and psychiatric
facilities). We will conduct face-to-face interviews with the chairs of
the Violence Prevention Committees, who as stated in regulations, are
in charge of overseeing compliance efforts. These individuals will
include hospital administrators, security directors and/or risk
managers, many of whom participated in the California study. The
purpose of the interviews is to measure compliance to the state
regulations (Aim 1). The interview form was pilot-tested by the study
team in the fall 2010 and includes the following components as mandated
in the regulations: Violence prevention policies, reporting systems for
violent events, violence prevention committee, written violence
prevention plan, violence risk assessments, post-incident response and
violence prevention training. Questions will also be asked about
barriers and facilitators to developing the violence prevention
program.
These data will be collected in the post-regulation time period;
data collected from New Jersey hospitals in the California study will
be used as the baseline measure for evaluating compliance. We will also
collect assault injury data from facility violent event reports 3 years
pre-regulation (2009-2011) and 3 years post-regulation (2012-2014). The
purpose of collecting these data is to evaluate changes in assault
injury rates before and after enactment of the regulations (Aim 3). The
abstraction form was developed to collect the specific reporting
components stated in the regulations: Date, time and location of the
incident; identity, job title and job task of the victim; identity of
the perpetrator; description of the violent act, including whether a
weapon was used; description of physical injuries; number of employees
in the vicinity when the incident occurred, and their actions in
response to the incident; recommendations of police advisors, employees
or consultants, and; actions taken by the facility in response to the
incident. No employee or perpetrator identifiable information will be
collected.
[[Page 40917]]
In addition to health care facilities, nurses will also be
recruited. These nurses will be recruited from a mailing list of nurses
licensed from the State of New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
Board of Nursing. The mailing list was selected as the population
source of workers due to the ability to capture all licensed nurses in
New Jersey. A similar listing does not exist for non-licensed frontline
workers, such as aides and orderlies. Therefore, a sampling frame based
on nurses (registered nurses and licensed practical nurses) will be
used to select workers to participate in the study. A random sample of
2000 registered and licensed practical nurses will be recruited for
study participation. A third-party contractor will be responsible for
sending the survey to the random sample of 2000. The Health
Professionals and Allied Employees union will promote the survey to
their members. To maintain the worker's anonymity, the facility in
which he/she works will not be identified. The survey will describe the
workplace violence prevention training nurses receive following
enactment of the New Jersey regulations (Aim 2).
There are no costs to respondents other than their time.
Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Average
Number of Number of burden per Total burden
Respondents respondents responses per response (in (in hrs)
respondent hrs)
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Hospital Administrators......................... 50 1 1 50
Nurses (RN and LPN)............................. 2000 1 20/60 667
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Total....................................... .............. .............. .............. 717
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Catina Conner,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2011-17407 Filed 7-11-11; 8:45 am]
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