Most nurses reported workplace violence in 2023

More than eight in 10 nurses saw or experienced workplace violence in the last year, a new National Nurses United (NNU) survey found.

The survey, which polled 914 nurses, also indicated that nearly half of respondents thought that violence has worsened in healthcare facilities in the previous year—an increase from a March 2021 NNU survey that found only 21.9% of respondents thought violence was increasing.

“I have been punched, slapped, spat on, hit, kicked, and bitten,” one Illinois nurse reported.

Another nurse working in Florida said that violent episodes are commonplace and “getting worse.”

The healthcare industry is already dealing with a “critical” nurse staffing shortage, and workplace violence threatens to exacerbate that trend. The 2023 survey found that 37.2% percent of nurses have reconsidered their job due to violence, and nearly 25% had changed their job—or left nursing entirely.

Threats were the most prominent forms of violence nurses faced, though actual attacks, such as spitting, punching, or throwing objects, were also common. Between 29.9%–36.2% of respondents reported experiencing one of those aggressions in the year prior to the survey. Only 18.4% of respondents said they hadn’t experienced workplace violence.

“This data underlines the need for additional action to protect nurses, other healthcare workers, and their patients,” the survey’s authors concluded.

The authors called on healthcare employers to ramp up violence de-escalation training, debrief workers after violent incidents, and offer trauma counseling. Bolstering workplace violence prevention plans could also be an effective solution, according to the survey.

An employer’s failure to take action, the authors said, increases the risk of violent incidents and leads to more “wait times, unmet patient needs, and increased stress and moral distress of healthcare staff.”

Methodology: Surveyors collected responses both in person and through email and text invitations in 2023. The nurses—both members and nonmembers—worked in 48 states and Washington, DC. About 80% of respondents worked in hospitals.