Workplace injuries from hospital violence increase in Minnesota
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November 13, 2023
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A still from surveillance video of a patient attacking a nurse at St. John's Hospital Nov. 2, 2014.
Minnesota hospital workers are suffering more disabling injuries from violence in the workplace, according to new federal data, and health care leaders don't expect the problem to disappear with the end of the pandemic.
About 630 employees missed work from 2021 through 2022 to recover from violence-related injuries in the state's nonprofit and private hospitals, according to estimates last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares with 200 a decade earlier. Most injuries came from assaults by patients and visitors - while the intent in other violent incidents undetermined.
Fenis Mogere missed months of work with back and shoulder problems after a patient in an acute mental health crisis lunged over an intake desk, attacked her and threw a mug of hot coffee at her. Despite her family's worries, she went back to work at Mercy Hospital's Unity campus in Fridley because disability payments equaled just 60% of her salary.
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