Hundreds of Massachusetts nurses and healthcare workers gathered at the State House in Boston on Tuesday, May 5 — the opening day of National Nurses Week — demanding the state Senate act on a workplace violence prevention bill that passed the House nearly six months ago and has been stalled since.

The "Safety First" Day of Action was timed to coincide with new survey data that makes the underlying problem impossible to minimize: nursing in Massachusetts has become more dangerous, not less. According to the 2026 State of Nursing in Massachusetts survey, 69% of nurses reported experiencing at least one incident of workplace violence in the past two years — up from 57% in 2019. Among nurses with fewer than five years of experience, that number climbs to 79%.

What the Survey Found

The survey was conducted by Beacon Research in March 2026 with 484 registered nurses randomly selected from state Board of Registration in Nursing records. The methodology is sound. The results are not a fringe sample:

  • 69% experienced at least one workplace violence incident in the past two years
  • 79% of newer nurses (less than 5 years experience) reported workplace violence
  • 74% of community hospital nurses identified workplace violence as a serious problem on their unit
  • 95% of nurses support legislation requiring employers to implement violence prevention programs

A 12-percentage-point increase in reported violence over seven years is not noise — it's a trend. Hospitals have added security protocols, patient de-escalation training, and behavioral health response teams in that same window. The violence rate went up anyway. That says something about the structural nature of the problem.

These numbers align with national data. The 2026 Nurse.Org State of Nursing Survey found that more than half of nurses nationally reported experiencing workplace violence — a figure that has climbed year over year since 2020. Massachusetts is not an outlier; it's measuring what other states are under-counting.

The Bill: H.4767 / S.1718

The MNA is pushing for Senate passage of An Act Requiring Health Care Employers to Develop and Implement Programs to Prevent Workplace Violence (H.4767 / S.1718). The bill passed the Massachusetts House in November 2025 and has been waiting on the Senate since.

Key provisions include:

  • Mandating facility-specific risk assessments and written violence prevention programs
  • Requiring frontline staff participation in prevention planning — not just administrator sign-off
  • Strengthening enforcement through Department of Public Health licensing requirements
  • Enhanced job protections and additional paid leave for nurses who are assaulted on the job

The approach is similar to California's existing law and to legislation that has advanced in Illinois, Oregon, and Washington. The common thread: employer accountability with DPH or equivalent agency enforcement teeth, not just policy memos.

National Context

As of early 2026, more than 25 states have active workplace violence legislation in progress for healthcare workers. Several — including California (already law) and Illinois — have passed felony provisions for assaulting healthcare workers. Federal legislation (the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act) has stalled in Congress repeatedly despite bipartisan support.

The pattern is consistent: nurses report violence, surveys document it, legislatures acknowledge it, and bills stall. The MNA's Day of Action is designed to interrupt that pattern by putting 500 nurses in front of the senators who control the chamber's calendar during the one week each year when public attention is on the profession.

74% of community hospital nurses identifying workplace violence as a serious problem is a majority finding from a random sample. Senate inaction at this point is a policy choice, not an oversight.

What Nurses Can Do Now

If you work in Massachusetts, the most direct action is contacting your state senator directly and citing the survey numbers. The MNA's advocacy page links to the Senate directory. Outside Massachusetts, your state nurses association is the right starting point — most have active workplace violence campaigns that accept volunteer time, written testimony, or sign-on letters from individual RNs.

Documentation matters internally too. If your facility has an incident reporting system, use it for every incident — every time. Aggregate data from your own unit's logs is often the most persuasive evidence when advocating for policy changes with administration or when a state association is building a legislative record. Incidents that go unreported don't exist in the data, and the data is what moves legislation.