Workplace Violence
Protect Yourselves, Protect Your Patients
Protect Yourselves, Protect Your Patients
Nurses are at high risk for assaults and violence in the workplace due to their close proximity to patients. According to a Press Ganey Survey Report (2021), 2 nurses per hour are assaulted in the acute care setting.
Download the Position Statement on Workplace Violence to learn more.
Incivility, bullying, and violence in the workplace are serious issues in nursing, with incivility and bullying widespread in all settings.
- Incivility refers to low-intensity, disrespectful behaviors that violate norms of mutual respect in ways that are often ambiguous or difficult to address directly.
- Bullying, in contrast, involves repeated, intentional acts of hostility or aggression—often characterized by a power imbalance—that causes harm or distress over time.
- Workplace Violence is any act or threat (intentional or non-intentional) of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening, disruptive behavior from any individual including care recipients, students, family members, colleagues or co-workers, and outside individuals. It includes but is not limited to verbal, physical, sexual, and psychological assaults.
Such acts of aggression – be they verbal or physical – are entirely unacceptable, whether delivered by patients or colleagues. These incidents not only have a serious effect on the wellbeing of the nurse in question but also their ability to care for their patients.
This under-reported epidemic has devastating results on the healthcare industry. Studies show that WPV can affect the quality of care and care outcomes, contribute to the development of psychological conditions, and reduce the RN's level of job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Educate Yourself
Nurses should first educate themselves on how to maintain a culture of safety in the workplace. This involves collaboration between leadership and staff to develop safety policies to ensure that patients and nurses are safe.
Abuse is never your fault.
Hear the Message
Listen to this nurse's experience and know that you are making a difference by reporting workplace violence.
Webinar: Workplace Violence Against Nurses: What You Can Do
Workplace violence can be prevented, and nurses can lead the way. This on-demand webinar addresses what every nurse needs to know about the challenge of workplace violence against nurses.
Or watch short videos cut from this webinar on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLf2d17tjKiop_fIRXbI5Jz9WC44Xz0Qei
Workplace violence in nursing is a real and prevalent problem. We are speaking up, and raising awareness of the issue to inspire change.
Violence is not part of the job video
Take Action
Find out more about current advocacy opportunities on RNAction at rnaction.org.
Share
- Member resource regarding Workplace Hazards and Concerns.
- Informational OSHA flyer.
- Addressing Nurse Fatigue to Promote Safety and Health: Joint Responsibilities of Registered Nurses and Employers to Reduce Risks
- Just culture
- Patient Safety: Rights of Registered Nurses When Considering a Patient Assignment
- Sexual Harassment
- Not Part of the Job: How to Take a Stand Against Violence in the Work Setting This book outlines the factors that create barriers to reduce violence against health care workers; and offers strategies and tools that can address them.
- AACN Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments
- AHRQ’s TeamSTEPPS
The American Nurses Association is harnessing the power of storytelling to give voice to the experiences of nurses that endure incivility, bullying, and workplace violence and think that they are alone. You are not alone. We lift each other up. By speaking up and reporting all incidents, we are all stronger.
Capturing all perspectives and insights – the experience and how it was mitigated – is key to forging change in the nursing profession. Share your stories of experiencing:
- Patient or family violence.
- Colleague incivility or bullying.
- Worksite policy change, system change, or state resolutions/law change you were involved in.
If you have video, or audio that represent or convey your experience, feel free to upload with your story. There is an upload limit of 100 mb. You can still share your story without uploading any images.
NOTE: Stories will be de-identified if used for educational purposes and will never be posted on this website.