2012-18742. 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 404-639-7570 and send comments to Kimberly S. Lane, at 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D74, Atlanta, GA 30333 or send an email to [e-mail].

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 (0920-0914, Expiration 1/31/2015)—Revision—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. NIOSH received OMB approval (0920-0914) to evaluate the legislation at hospitals and to conduct a nurse survey. Data collection is ongoing at the hospitals and for the nurse survey. We are revising our existing ICR to include 2 new respondents which are nursing homes and home healthcare aides.

First, we will conduct face-to-face interviews with the Chairs of the Violence Prevention Committees in 20 nursing homes 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). The details of their Workplace Violence Prevention Program are in their existing policies and procedures. Second, we will also collect assault injury data from nursing home's violent event reports 3 years pre-regulation (2009-2011) and 3 years post-regulation (2012-2014).This data is captured in existing OSHA logs and is publicly available. The purpose of collecting these data is to evaluate changes in assault injury rates before and after enactment of the regulations. A contractor will conduct the interviews, collect the nursing home's policies and procedures, and collect the assault injury data. Third, we will also conduct a home healthcare aide survey (4000 respondents or 1333 annually). This survey will describe the workplace violence prevention training home healthcare aides receive. 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 nursing home workplace violence prevention programs before and after enactment of the New Jersey regulations in nursing homes; Working hypothesis: Based on our preliminary research, we hypothesize that enactment of the regulations will improve the comprehensiveness of nursing home workplace violence prevention program policies, procedures and training.

2. Describe the workplace violence prevention training home healthcare aides receive following enactment of the New Jersey regulations; Working hypothesis: Based on our preliminary research, we hypothesize that home healthcare aides receive at least 80% of the workplace violence prevention training components mandated in the New Jersey regulations.

3. Examine patterns of assault injuries to nursing home workers before and after enactment of the regulations; Working hypothesis: Based on our preliminary research, we hypothesize that rates of assault injuries to nursing home workers will decrease following enactment of the regulations.

Healthcare facilities falling under the regulations are eligible for study inclusion (i.e., nursing homes). A contractor will conduct face-to-face interviews with the chairs of the Violence Prevention Committees at 20 nursing homes, who as stated in regulations, are in charge of overseeing compliance efforts. These individuals will include nursing home administrators. 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. The nursing home's policy and procedures documents will be obtained by the contractor to provide details about their workplace violence prevention program. 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.

A contractor will also collect assault injury data from nursing home violent event reports 3 years pre-regulation (2009-2011) and 3 years post-regulation (2012-2014). This data will be collected from existing OSHA logs. The purpose of collecting these data is to evaluate changes in assault injury rates before and after enactment of the regulations (Aim 3). The following information will be abstracted from the OSHA logs: 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 nursing homes, home healthcare aides will also be recruited. These home healthcare aides will be recruited from a mailing list of home healthcare aides certified 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 home healthcare aides in New Jersey. Therefore, a sampling frame based on home healthcare aides will be used to select workers to participate in the study. A random sample of 4000 (1333 annually) home healthcare aides will be recruited for study participation. A third-party contractor will be responsible for sending the survey to the random sample of 4000 home healthcare aides (1333 annually). The Health Professionals and Allied Employees union will promote the survey to their members. To maintain the worker's anonymity, the home healthcare agency in which he/she works will not be identified. The survey will describe the workplace violence prevention training home healthcare aides receive following enactment of the New Jersey regulations (Aim 2). There are no costs to respondents other than their time.

Estimated Annualized Burden Hours

Respondents	Form	No. of respondents	No. of responses per respondent	Average burden per response (in hrs)	Total burden (in hrs)
Hospital Administrator	Interview	17	1	1	17
Nursing Administrator	Interview	7	1	1	7
Nurse Survey	Survey	1333	1	20/60	445
Home Healthcare Aides	Survey	1333	1	20/60	445
Total					914

Kimberly S. Lane,

Deputy Director, Office of Science Integrity, Office of the Associate Director for Science, Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.