Every National Nurses Week, healthcare systems post thank-you graphics and cafeteria specials. Meanwhile, new data from National Nurses United (NNU) and Nurse.Org's annual State of Nursing Survey show the reality: 27% of nurses were physically assaulted at work in 2025 — hit, kicked, pushed, bitten, or grabbed — and 52% experienced verbal threats or aggressive language. This isn't trending down.

The Numbers Are Worse Than Most Facilities Admit

The 2026 State of Nursing Survey polled thousands of RNs across specialties. Of nurses who experienced a workplace incident, only 54% formally reported it. The top reason for not reporting: they didn't believe anything would change. Among those who did report, the most common outcome was no action taken. Fewer than 1 in 10 said they felt supported by leadership afterward.

Specialty breakdown reveals where the risk concentrates:

  • Telemetry nurses: 59% physically assaulted in the past year
  • Progressive care nurses: 58%
  • Emergency department nurses: 51%
  • ICU nurses: ~30% (lower acuity for assault, but verbal abuse rates are high)
  • NICU nurses: 2% (lowest assault rate of any specialty surveyed)
  • Obstetrics nurses: 7%

The acuity and behavioral complexity of the patient population tracks directly with assault rates. Units with high psychiatric comorbidity, delirium, substance withdrawal, or dementia — and lower nurse-to-patient ratios — carry the most risk.

Massachusetts Data: 69% of Nurses in Two Years

The Massachusetts Nurses Association released its own survey alongside the NNU data during National Nurses Week. 69% of Massachusetts nurses reported experiencing at least one workplace violence incident in the past two years, up from 57% in 2019. The increase was steepest among nurses with under 5 years of experience — 79% of newer nurses reported an incident in two years.

That rate is why hundreds of MNA nurses and healthcare workers held a Day of Action at the Massachusetts State House on May 5 — one day before Nurses Week officially began. The rally was a direct push for passage of the state's Safe Work Act, which would require hospital violence prevention plans, de-escalation training, and reporting protocols.

Why Most Nurses Don't Report — and Why That Matters

The reporting gap is where the data gets practical. When fewer than half of assaulted nurses formally document an incident, hospital incident tracking systems undercount the problem by roughly half. That undercounting is then used by administrators to argue that "violence isn't a significant issue" at their facility. The loop perpetuates itself.

The data on outcomes for those who did report is not encouraging: no action taken was the plurality response. That response pattern is what drives future non-reporting. It's not apathy — it's a rational response to a documented pattern of institutional non-response.

34% of nurses say they do not feel safe from violence in their workplace. That number tracks with the 2025 State of Nursing Survey finding that 43% of nurses plan to leave the bedside. Workplace safety and intent to leave are not separate data points.

What's Changing (and What Isn't)

Twenty-five-plus states moved healthcare workplace violence legislation in 2025-2026. Many passed. Federal legislation remains stalled — the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act has cleared committee multiple times without a floor vote. During Nurses Week 2026, NNU renewed its call for passage alongside rallies at state capitols nationwide.

At the facility level, the Joint Commission added workplace violence prevention to its 2026 accreditation standards. Hospitals now face accreditation risk if they can't demonstrate active violence prevention programs. That's a meaningful lever — more immediate for most facilities than pending legislation.

For nurses tracking this: document every incident in writing, whether or not you believe your facility will act. Your documentation creates the record. If your facility lacks a formal violence reporting mechanism, that gap itself is surveyable under the new Joint Commission standard. Document every incident, every shift. Your file is the institutional memory that exists when hospital leadership says the problem isn't that bad.