Rising incivility among patients and hospital visitors remains a challenge for health systems across the U.S.
Nearly half of nurses said workplace violence increased in their unit in the previous year, according to a 2024 survey conducted by National Nurses United. A separate 2024 study found emergency nurses experienced verbal or physical violence daily, but often chose not to report it.
Because workplace violence in healthcare has become so normalized, minor incidents often go unreported — making it difficult to measure whether the situation has improved in the past year, J. Stephen Jones, MD, president and CEO of Falls Church, Va.-based Inova Health, told Becker’s.
“Saying that the numbers are going up and down is hard to track,” Dr. Jones said. “On our daily safety huddles, as far as incidents that reach the level that they should reach — the highest level of the organization — that has not by any means gone down. It’s either stable or worse.”
Beyond safety huddles, Inova’s leadership has focused on setting clear expectations. Dr. Jones greets new team members each Monday, emphasizing that reporting any incident is essential — and that being harmed by a patient or visitor is never part of the job.
The health system has also taken a firmer stance on visitor behavior — it is a privilege to visit, he added.
“We take that privilege seriously, and we expect you to [be respectful], and if you cannot, we will remove you from our setting with no sense of hesitation,” Dr. Jones said. “When we do remove an inappropriate family member, our team members feel safer and know that we’ve got their back. We’re trying to be very overt and candid about the fact that we will do that.”
In the past 18 months, Inova has invested nearly $40 million in team member safety. The funds have supported more armed security officers, weapons detection in all emergency departments, deescalation training for all staff members and a video monitoring system with facial recognition and intelligent analytics.
“That’s almost $40 million that we don’t have for other purposes,” Dr. Jones said. “We don’t love the idea that we need to spend that much to protect ourselves, our team members and our community. It’s just a necessary part of the business that we do.”
Angie Mannino, chief human resources, marketing and communications officer at Louisville, Ky.-based Baptist Health, told Becker’s the system also uses daily safety huddles at each hospital to keep staff and patient safety top of mind.
Baptist Health has collaborated with front-line caregivers and other employees to implement enhanced safety measures, including advanced intervention training, security and response protocols, and collaboration with law enforcement partners.
“There are serious concerns about workplace violence and harassment in the healthcare industry, and Baptist Health is committed to protecting the safety of our staff, patients and visitors,” Ms. Mannino said. “Providing high-quality care in a safe environment always remains at the forefront of everything we do.”
The system supported House Bill 194, which was signed into law in April 2024, that expands Class D felony assault protections to cover all healthcare workers in inpatient, outpatient and ambulatory settings, Ms. Mannino said.
Several other states have introduced or signed into law similar legislation in 2025. On May 28, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House Bill 310, broadening the definition of healthcare providers to include any individuals working, volunteering or participating in educational instruction at hospital, rural emergency hospital or nursing facilities.
“Creating a safe, supportive environment is a shared responsibility and one we are committed to upholding together,” Ms. Mannino said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1:11 p.m. Central time on May 30.
