Dear Editor,

As a nurse leader at our local hospital, I feel compelled to call your and your readers' attention to the unacceptable volume of violence toward nurses and other healthcare workers. Patient violence toward healthcare workers, also known as Type 2 Workplace Violence, is increasingly prevalent in the healthcare setting, especially in Emergency Departments.

Nurses are four times more likely to be victims of violence in their workplace than employees of all other industries combined. How ironic is it that patients go to healthcare facilities like hospitals to seek healing, wellness, and safety, yet health professionals go to work at healthcare facilities only to be assaulted by those seeking care?

More shocking is that up to 80% of violent actions against nurses and other healthcare workers go unreported, often due to compassion for the confused, sick, and fearful. In North Carolina, it is a felony to assault a healthcare worker who is providing services in a hospital. Sadly, just a few weeks ago, a nurse died in North Carolina after a patient attacked her on the job.

I am concerned that nurses and other clinical experts cannot complete patient care duties because of disruptions from violence or threats of violence regularly occurring in our hospital. Nurses are committed to providing skilled and compassionate care. Still, we cannot ignore that nurses are leaving the profession at record rates, possibly because of the risk of being assaulted by a patient.

When someone is verbally or physically assaulted in public, the public speaks up. I urge you and your readers to do the same for our nurses and healthcare workforce. If you see something, say something. We desperately need nurses to care for our community, and nurses need our support to eliminate the violence they experience on the job!

Natalie B. Smith, MSN, RN, NPD-BC
Pink Hill, NC