The health care industry leads all other industries in non-fatal workplace assaults, and 69 health care workers were been killed on the job between 1996 and 2000.  In fact, nearly a half million nurses per year reported that they were victims of violent crimes in the workplace.

Beyond these recorded physical violent acts are countless incidents of verbal abuse directed against nurses by patients, families, doctors, other nurses and staff.  Verbal abuse ranges from patients or their family members lashing out at the nurse, to nurse-on-nurse bullying, and to bullying and disrespectful behavior from doctors.  Verbal intimidation by doctors has been shown to result in patient safety errors because nurses’ knowledge and skills were disrespected. 

Violence in the workplace has long been treated as random, unpredictable events which the employer cannot prevent—but research on violence in the workplace has found environmental and work organization factors which can reduce the risk of violence.  Factors such as understaffing, lack of workplace security, time of day, and working in isolation can increase the risk of violence. 

The union and your Health and Safety Committee can ensure that health care employers take the risk of violence and abuse seriously by negotiating for violence prevention programs, as well as zero tolerance for abuse policies for all staff—bullying by doctors is never acceptable. Read examples of UAN contract language on violence prevention.

Read resolutions on workplace violence passed by UAN’s National Labor Assembly.