Nurses report increased workplace violence — and blame their employers

Nurses saw increased workplace violence last year compared with previous years, and their employers often were to blame, according to a report released this week by National Nurses United.

NNU is the nation’s largest union and professional association of registered nurses. The report analyzes data gathered from almost 1,000 nurses working across 48 states and Washington, DC, in 2023.

“NNU’s 2023 data makes it clear that nurses across the nation continue to experience extremely high rates of workplace violence and that those rates have increased, according to the report.

Almost half of the respondents (45.5%) reported an increase in workplace violence on their units in the previous year, and 81% of the surveyed nurses said that they had experienced at least one type of workplace violence in 2023. 

Rates of workplace violence are 30 times higher for healthcare workers than in all other industries, according to the Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Nurses experience multiple types of workplace violence on a daily basis, ranging from physical abuse to verbal threats,” according to the report. The three most common types of violence reported were verbal threats (67.8%), physical threats (38.7%), and pinches or scratches (37.3%).

Employers at fault, nurses say

Employers are largely responsible, respondents said, by not having proper prevention plans, sufficient training or clear reporting mechanisms, among other issues.

“Scientific research has documented that unit-specific workplace violence prevention plans created with employee input, safe staffing and other engineering and administrative controls, work to reduce workplace violence,” according to the report. Yet only 62.8% of nurses reported that their employers provide training on workplace violence prevention.

“While training by itself is insufficient, it is an essential element of an effective workplace violence prevention plan,” NNU said.

Respondents also said that they often do not report workplace violence incidents due to “unclear reporting mechanisms, lack of action from the employer, fear of employer retaliation and perspectives that violence is part of the job.”