Nurse Shares Story Of Workplace Violence, Disagrees With Premise Of SQ 805

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the healthcare industry has the highest rate of workplace violence.

As Election Day nears, a nurse and a state lawmaker said State Question 805 would remove protections for healthcare workers in Oklahoma while supporters of the question disagree.

"I don't want this to happen to anyone ever again what I went through," nurse Amy Eberly said. 

Eberly has been caring for Oklahomans as a nurse of over two decades. She said she was attacked by a patient three years ago.

"I remember my toes were barely touching the floor and he was strangling me," Eberly said. "It’s just really hard to see that type of brutality and to hear other people and tell the same story and know that you’re not unique especially when it’s something that severe and it’s so violent."

State Senator Darrell Weaver said if voters approve 805, an assault on a medical professional would not be listed as a violent felony.

Kris Steele with Oklahomans for Criminal Justice reform said that's not true.

“For the opposition to use the COVID-19 global pandemic to mislead voters is shameless,” Steele’s statement read, in part. “To the contrary, SQ 805 supports health care workers by saving our state nearly $200 million that can be reinvested in other vital services like healthcare and education."