Threats and attacks toward nurses and other healthcare workers have become commonplace. In response, the medical community has issued growing calls to Congress to pass legislation to mitigate workplace violence against healthcare workers.
The American Nurses Association in its end-of-year legislation priorities urged Congress to pass the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, which would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to develop and enforce specific workplace safety standards for healthcare employers.
Separately, the American Hospital Association and other provider groups have urged Congress to enact the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employee Act. The legislation, modeled after protections for aircraft and airport workers, would criminalize assault or intimidation of hospital workers.
Here are six statistics on workplace violence against nurses, based on data from surveys conducted in 2022:
- More than 5,200 nursing personnel were assaulted in the second quarter of 2022, according to data from Press Ganey. On average, two nurses were assaulted every hour, translating to about 57 assaults per day. The majority of aggressors were patients, the analysis found.
- A National Nurses United survey conducted in the first few months of 2022 found nearly half of nurses reported a small or significant increase in workplace violence. That marked a 57 percent increase from survey findings in September 2021, and a 119 percent increase from March 2021.