Healthcare workplace violence is the fastest-growing category of occupational violence in the United States. A nurse is assaulted on the job somewhere in this country every 30 minutes. In 2026, after years of nurses and nursing unions documenting, testifying, and pushing, a wave of state-level legislation is finally producing results — even as the federal bill languishes in the Senate.
Here's where the legislation stands, state by state, and what it means practically for nurses on the floor.
What's Already Law in 2026
Washington (HB 1162, effective January 1, 2026): Building on the state's 2019 workplace violence prevention law, HB 1162 passed with unanimous legislative support and was signed into law in May 2025. It requires hospitals to establish staffing committees with equal nurse-management representation, develop annual staffing plans, and publicly post staffing schedules. It also strengthens incident reporting requirements and creates enforceable penalties for non-compliance. The Washington State Nurses Association called it "the strongest iteration" of Washington's workplace violence protections to date.
Oregon (SB 537, effective January 1, 2026): Oregon's bill takes a prevention-first approach, requiring facilities to conduct workplace violence risk assessments, implement violence prevention programs, and provide annual training to nurses and other direct care staff. It covers hospitals and home health settings — a meaningful extension, since home health nurses face some of the highest per-visit violence rates of any nursing setting.
Virginia (HB 2269/SB 1260, 2025 — 2026 amendments in progress): Virginia passed its hospital workplace violence incident reporting law in 2025. In 2026, the state introduced amendments to strengthen disclosure requirements and add protections for staff who report incidents without retaliation. The amended version is moving through committee.
What Just Passed
Utah (HB 380): On January 27, 2026, Utah introduced HB 380 requiring hospitals to track and report incidents of workplace violence. As of late March 2026, the legislation has passed both chambers and is awaiting final action. It's a transparency-focused bill — it doesn't mandate prevention programs, but it creates the data infrastructure that advocates say is the prerequisite to stronger intervention requirements.
What's Still Pending at the Federal Level
The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 2531) was reintroduced in April 2025. It would require OSHA to issue a final standard mandating workplace violence prevention programs across healthcare and social service settings nationally. The bill has strong bipartisan co-sponsorship in the House, but the Senate version continues to face procedural obstacles related to implementation cost estimates.
OSHA has had a preliminary rule in development since 2017. The current administration has not moved it forward. National Nurses United and SEIU have both called for OSHA to issue an emergency temporary standard — a request that has not been granted.
Why State Laws Matter More Right Now
In the absence of federal action, state laws carry the full weight of nurse protection. California, New Jersey, and Washington now have the most comprehensive frameworks — requiring prevention programs, staff training, incident reporting, and in California's case, actual penalties that OSHA enforces with inspection authority.
For nurses in states without any workplace violence law — and there are still more than 20 of them — the data from regulated states provides a roadmap for what to push for. California's 2016 workplace violence prevention law produced measurable results: hospital workplace violence incidents documented by Cal/OSHA dropped significantly in regulated settings within three years of enforcement beginning.
The key elements of effective state laws, based on existing research: mandatory risk assessment before violence occurs, not after; mandatory incident reporting with whistleblower protections; required de-escalation training that is actually delivered to bedside staff, not just listed in policy; and enforceable penalties that create financial consequences for non-compliance.
What Nurses Can Do Now
If you're in a state without workplace violence protections, your most effective avenue is through your state nursing association or nursing union. The allnurses.com advocacy tracker maintains a current state-by-state map of pending legislation. The National Nurses United legislative team publishes action alerts when key bills reach floor votes in states where rapid constituent contact can move outcomes.
Document every incident, regardless of how minor it seems. Facilities with poor incident reporting cultures often discover during OSHA inspections or litigation that their nurses have years of undocumented exposure. Your documentation protects you legally and creates the data that shifts institutional policy.