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Colorado Silences Health Care Workers Who See Errors

In a move that threatens patient safety and quality care, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens (R) vetoed a bill that would have provided whistleblower protection for medical workers who report errors. Known as the Health Care Worker Protection Act (H.B. 1193), the bill would have strengthened and clarified protection for health care workers who report substandard care.

The governor justified his veto by saying that the bill duplicates existing law on employment practices and “could pave the way for unnecessary lawsuits.” The bill had widespread support among nurses and other health care workers and patient advocates who know that, without protection from employer retaliation, most workers are reluctant to speak out.

Whistleblower laws prevent employers from retaliating against nurses through actions including suspensions, demotion, harassment or discharge for reporting improper quality of patient care. Across the nation, nurses are speaking out, or “blowing the whistle,” against workplace conditions that jeopardize patients and staff, and they need legal protection.

With health care restructuring and cost cutting measures, nurses are often frustrated as they try to provide quality patient care while staffing levels, resources and support are often inadequate.


While some federal laws provide workers with whistleblower protection for specific scenarios, for example Medicare fraud and health and safety violations, there is no national whistleblower protection related to patient care. To date, 21 states have enacted whistleblower protection for health care workers. The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Garcetti v. Ceballos that public employees who make statements as part of their official job duties are not protected by the First Amendment, make these state laws even more important.

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