Nearly a year after a Kane County, Ill., jail detainee took two nurses hostage, some changes have been made by both the Kane County Sheriff’s Office and Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, according to Kane County Chronicle website.
One nurse was raped, tortured and beaten before the attacker was killed by a SWAT team. Northwestern Medicine has implemented several protocols to enhance the safety of nurses, physicians, staff, patients and visitors.
Also, State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, introduced House Bill 4100, known as the Nurse Violence Prevention Bill, an amendment to the Nurse Practice Act.
HB 4100 calls for additional safety and health training for licensed nurses and licensed facilities, the posting of a notice that states verbal aggression will not be tolerated and physical assault will be prosecuted, that the facility will provide mental health services for a nurse who is the victim of workplace violence, among other requirements.
The sheriff’s office now sends two officers with detainees who go to the hospital. If there are two prisoners, then four corrections officers go with them.