Bill Schueler, MSN, RN, CEN, CPPS, WVTS, FAEN

The healthcare landscape is changing. As of 2022, hospital violence prevention programs are now required for accredited hospitals throughout the US. Bill is uniquely qualified to assist healthcare teams in achieving the next level of safety. 

Bill has a passion for safety. Through his 27 years of experience in EMS, emergency nursing, violence prevention, and patient safety, he understands the delicate balance between caregiver and patient safety.  You can't have one or the other; you must have both. Having been on the receiving end of violence many times while at the bedside, he knows that caregiver safety is the foundation of safe patient care.

In addition to being one of the first nurses in the nation to achieve certification as a Workplace Violence and Threat Specialist (WVTS), Bill has taught violence prevention to thousands of caregivers. Bill has been sought after as an expert and consultant in violence prevention and the use of self-defense in the healthcare setting. He currently contributes to his employer’s many violence prevention projects.

Bill has extensive public policy experience and has been very active with his professional organization, serving on national committees for the past several years. He's advocated for clinical care improvements, nurse and patient safety issues, and violence prevention with our national and state governments. He continues to support and advise his state’s organization by chairing the government affairs committee and serving as a delegate to the annual general assembly. 

Through his substantial and enduring violence prevention contributions to the profession of emergency nursing, Bill was inducted as a fellow into the Academy of Emergency Nursing in 2019.

Bill had the honor of writing a chapter on self-care in Emergency Nursing: The Profession, the Practice, the Pathway, published by Sigma Theta Tau International. His chapter highlights the many stresses the emergency nurse may encounter and the critical importance of self-care. He’s authored chapters on workplace violence in Sheehy’s Emergency Nursing Principles and Practice, 7th edition and Sheehy’s Manual of Emergency Care, 8th edition as well as co-authored a chapter in Strauss & Mayer’s Emergency Department Management, 2nd edition. Bill has another chapter in the works for a prestigious emergency text in 2025!

His patient safety specialist experience gives him a unique insight into the risks that face patients and caregivers. Having facilitated over 100 root cause analyses and investigated hundreds of safety events, he has helped teams identify system and process flaws and create safer care environments. He is currently one of the few Certified Professionals in Patient Safety (CPPS) in Oregon.