The Growing Crisis of Workplace Violence in Healthcare
Healthcare workers dedicate their lives to caring for others, yet they are disproportionately at risk of workplace violence in healthcare. While healthcare professionals make up only 10% of the U.S. workforce, they experience a staggering 48% of recorded nonfatal injuries due to workplace violence.ยน The crisis has reached a breaking point, with growing safety concerns driving many healthcare professionals to reconsider their roles and careers.
An Alarming Reality: Violence is Escalating
Between 2021 and 2022, healthcare professionals experienced more incidents of workplace violence than employees in any other sector of private industry.ยฒ Recent data paints a dire picture. A January 2024 survey of emergency physicians found that 91% had either been a victim of violence or had a colleague who had been.ยณ Even more concerning, the majority believe violence against healthcare workers is getting worseโ71% characterized violence as โworse than last yearโ.ยณย These numbers indicate a healthcare environment where staff routinely face threats, aggression, and physical harm.
A common perception is that only nurses are victims of workplace violence in healthcare. Another perception is that violence occurs solely in Emergency Departments and Behavioral Health units. However, recent trends prove these perceptions to be false. Workplace violence in healthcare impacts executive leaders, physicians, aids, and departments from telemetry to obstetrics and gynecology.ย
Campus-Wide Threats Are a Growing Concern
Real-life incidents make clear that healthcare facilities are susceptible to threats. In February 2025, a gunman entered the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Intensive Care Unit in West Manchester Township, PA, took hostages, killed a police officer, and injured five others. Healthcare safety plans and practices must be prepared for handling extreme threats, such as an active shooter, in addition to everyday emergencies. According to the CENTEGIX 2026 Healthcare Trends Report, one in 10 alerts triggered by a CENTEGIX CrisisAlertโข badge was initiated for a campus-wide threat.โดย Increasing rates of workplace violence in healthcare have created a need for comprehensive safety systems capable of handling emergency response efforts for individual threats as well as extreme events.ย
Hospitals are intended to operate as sanctuaries for healing. But unfortunately, these facilities are becoming high-risk areas due to their open access for patients and visitors. To make healthcare facilities safer, security leaders are constantly evaluating the need for environmental modifications such as cameras, metal detectors, and wearable duress buttons.
The Emotional Toll of Violence on Caretakers
For the staff who experience violence or aggression, the emotional toll can be substantial, leading to absenteeism, burnout, and even post-traumatic stress disorder. A study published by the CDC showed that healthcare workers who experience violence are more likely to feel anxious, depressed, and burned out compared with those who do not.โตย
- 85% of healthcare workers experiencing workplace violence reported anxiety
- 60% reported depression
- 81% reported burnout
Notably, these numbers range from 57 to 93% higher than those of healthcare workers who did not experience harassment in the workplace, demonstrating the high impact exposure to workplace violence has on mental well-being.
This is why psychological safety is so critical. When healthcare workers feel unsafe, they operate in a state of survival mode. But when they feel protected and supported, they can focus on caring for their patients.
Workplace Violence in Healthcare is Driving Employees Away
Healthcare workers will not continue to tolerate daily threats of violence. This intolerance represents an evolution of thinking about workplace violence in healthcare. According to the American Nursing Association, people have long subscribed to the misguided perception that violence is โpart of the job,โ and employers are reluctant to acknowledge the problem. But recently, many healthcare professionalsโ fears related to workplace violence have caused them to question their future in the industry. Nearly two in five healthcare workers in the U.S. say they have considered leaving their positions due to safety concerns, with almost half (45%) likely to leave their jobs in the next 12 months.โถ
These developments contribute to an ongoing and urgent nursing shortage in the US. Recent data shows that 138,000 nurses have left the workforce since 2022. 39.9% of RNs and 41.3% of LPN/VNs reported an intent to leave the workforce or retire within the next five years.โทย These numbers are mainly driven by burnout and emotional strain, both of which are intensified by poor hospital conditions, staffing shortages, and exposure to workplace violence.ย
This workforce shortage negatively impacts staff job satisfaction, patient care, and facilitiesโ bottom lines. Fewer staff can also result in longer hospital stays, higher patient mortality rates, and an increase in preventable medical errors. And if there arenโt enough nurses to meet demand, a health care system collapse isnโt far-fetched. Additionally, understaffing is a trigger for aggressive outbursts from patients and family members. This creates a dangerous cycle: a lack of staff drives incidents of workplace violence, staff experience increased danger, and caregivers continue to leave the profession.ย
Making the Connection: Workplace Safety and Retention
Improved workplace safety is a concrete way that healthcare institutions can protect and retain staff. Nurses and other professionals are more likely to stay in a job where they feel safe. By providing staff with solutions to request help from anywhere on campus and making concrete efforts to improve reporting and safety planning practices, healthcare facilities can interrupt the vicious cycle of workplace violence.ย
Safety investments benefit organizations financially. Understaffing, high turnover rates, and employee disengagement are all associated with workplace violence in healthcare. Workplace violence is also tied to an increase in paid time off and workersโ compensation claims. Reducing the number of violent incidents reduces spending in all of these areas. Enhanced safety can also drive retention, resulting in significant labor cost savings. NSI Nursing Solutions found that the turnover cost for a single bedside RN averages $61,110.โธย For the average hospital, thatโs between $3.9 million and $5.7 million lost every year. They also found that each percentage point reduction in RN turnover lowers labor costs for the average hospital by $289,000 annually.โธ
Underreporting Skews the Scope of the Problem
The statistics we see may only be the tip of the iceberg, as itโs common knowledge that violence in healthcare goes widely unreported. A highly cited 2015 study found that just 12% of workplace violence incidents in healthcare were reportedโmeaning that 88% of incidents went undocumented.โนย The problem persists today, as many healthcare workers still feel that violence is โpart of the job.โ This mindset not only perpetuates the crisis but also prevents meaningful change and safety improvements from being implemented.
So why are so many incidents of workplace violence unreported? There are several reasons for the lack of reporting, ranging from fear of retaliation to compassion for the aggressor to fears of a negative outcome. Unreported workplace violence keeps the true scope of the problem obscured from healthcare management and oversight organizations. A 2024 survey collected over 550 responses from nurses providing direct patient care in Texas and found that 46% of nurses chose not to report their most recent encounter with workplace violence to their employer; more than half said it was because they did not expect anything to change in the long term.ยนโฐ
A 2024 American College of Emergency Physicians survey revealed that when healthcare professionals reported incidents of workplace violence, many felt their concerns were ignored. The survey showed that 68% of respondents felt their employer did not handle their report appropriately.ยณ Worse yet, 50% said nothing was done, and only 23% saw a behavioral flag added to a patientโs chart as a precaution for others.ยณ Similar results were reported in the 2024 National Nurses United Survey, where 45% of respondents stated that their employer ignored reports of workplace violence, and 29% reported that their employer reprimanded or blamed the employee.ยนยนย If healthcare workers feel unheard and unsupported, they are far less likely to report future incidents, allowing violence to continue progressing unmitigated.ย
The Cost of Inaction: Are Hospitals Prepared to Respond?
Many healthcare institutions are not prepared to respond effectively to workplace violence in healthcare. Crisis Prevention Instituteโs 2025 Workplace Violence Prevention Report found that only 26% of organizations achieved a โLeadersโ benchmark score in workplace safety preparedness.ยนยฒย CPI warns that organizations that fall below the โLeadersโ category place their employees at โhigh riskโ of an unsafe work environment. This analysis reveals that most healthcare organizations lack the infrastructure, training, and protocols necessary to protect their workforce.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating incidents that employers could have prevented. When deemed necessary, the organization fines healthcare systems to hold institutions accountable and improve worker safety. OSHA states, โIn most workplaces where risk factors can be identified, the risk of assault can be prevented or minimized if employers take appropriate precautionsโฆa well-written and implemented Workplace Violence Prevention Program, combined with engineering controls, administrative controls, and training, can reduce the incidence of workplace violence.โ
Over the last twenty years, research has demonstrated the effectiveness of workplace violence prevention measures, with studies documenting between an 18% and 66% reduction in incidents of violence after interventions were implemented.ยนยณ,ยนโดย In a recent ASHRM webinar, panelists shared that by improving safety with a layered approach to violence prevention, one hospital was able to reduce injuries from workplace violence by over 45%.
The Solution: Building a Culture of Safety
Healthcare organizations should not view workplace violence in healthcare as inevitable. Rather, they should treat it as a crisis that requires urgent action. Healthcare organizations must shift from reactive responses to proactive safety strategies. This means:
- Investing in workplace safety solutions such as wearable duress buttons, digital incident and asset mapping, and visitor management systems.
- Enhancing staff training to empower healthcare workers to confidently de-escalate situations before they escalate into violence.
- Encouraging transparent reporting and ensuring that reports lead to tangible safety improvements.
From leadership down, organizations must foster a culture of safety where employees feel protected, supported, and empowered to speak up.
Healthcare workers are essential, but their safety is far from guaranteed. Violence is escalating, and its impact is pushing professionals out of the industry. Decision-makers must take these statistics as a wake-up call. Investing in safety solutions is a necessity. By creating a culture of safety, healthcare leaders can protect their staff, improve patient outcomes, and preserve provider well-being throughout the industry.
The CENTEGIX Safety Platformยฎ reduces emergency response times and provides the solutions necessary to create a culture of safety in healthcare settings. CrisisAlert, a discreet, wearable duress button, enables healthcare workers to summon help anytime, anywhere on your campus. Schedule a demo today to learn why 98% of CrisisAlert users report feeling safe and supported, and how to give healthcare providers the peace of mind they need to provide high-quality care.ย
