[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64351-64353]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-26929]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30-Day-12-11IP]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 639-5960 or send an e-mail 
to [email protected]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-
5806. Written comments should be received within 30 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).
    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

[[Page 64352]]

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.

Background and Brief Description

    Healthcare workers are nearly five times more likely to be victims 
of violence than workers in all industries combined \1\. 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 \2\. 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.
    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 the respondents other than their time. The 
total estimated annual burden hours are 817.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                  Average burden
         Type of respondent                   Form name               No. of       Responses per   per response
                                                                    respondents     respondent       (in hrs)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hospital Administrators............  Evaluation of Hospital                   50               1               1
                                      Workplace Violence
                                      Prevention Program.
Hospital Administrators............  Committee Chair Interview..              50               1               1
Hospital Administrators............  Employee Incident                        50               1               1
                                      Information.
Nurses (RN and LPN)................  Healthcare Facility                    2000               1           20/60
                                      Workplace Violence
                                      Prevention Programs Nurse
                                      Survey.
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[[Page 64353]]

    Dated: October 12, 2011.
Daniel Holcomb,
Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2011-26929 Filed 10-17-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P