Preface

Nancy Hughes
Nancy L. Hughes, MS, RN
Past Director
Center for Occupational and Environmental Health
American Nurses Association

Nurses endure a range of incidents of verbal and physical assault, or the fear of it, in their workplaces at a startling rate.

It comes from patients, from their family members or their visitors and from other healthcare workers, including physicians, managers and supervisors, and other nurses.

Violence in the healthcare workplace is a major disruption to providing quality nursing care and has a negative impact on the therapeutic setting. And it's a prime reason why nurses are leaving the profession.

Why do these incidents occur? And more importantly, what can be done to ensure the safety of our nursing workforce?

The purpose of this course is to help nurses better understand the scope and nature of violence in the healthcare workplace. Participants will learn how to recognize the key elements of a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program and how organizational systems impact workplace violence, how to apply individual strategies and develop skills for preventing and responding to workplace violence.

Page last reviewed: February 7, 2020