Healthcare Workers Are More Likely to Experience Violence Than Cops and Prison Guards

Increasing instances of violence in hospitals and clinics in the United States have prompted experts to sound the alarm on the dangers healthcare workers are faced with daily.

Last month in Portland, Oregon, a man visiting the maternity ward at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center opened fire, fatally shooting a security guard; not long after, police were able to track down the gunman, eventually shooting and killing him in his car. 

The shooting in Portland is just one in a recent string of violent incidents this year to occur inside healthcare facilities that are intended to be a safe haven for patients and employees. And while the recent onslaught of violence is reason enough to spark concern from anyone, healthcare workers are all too familiar with these events.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 8% and 38% of all healthcare workers will experience workplace violence at some point during their careers. In line with that statistic, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that healthcare workers accounted for 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries due to violence in 2018. 

Healthcare workers and social service workers are five times more likely to be injured due to workplace violence than other workers, and those rates have continued to rise every year.

That, combined with the slew of occupational hazards these workers routinely deal with (exposure to illnesses and infectious diseases, chemical exposure, needle sticks, injury due to the physical nature of their jobs, etc.) places healthcare workers at high risk of workplace injuries, illnesses and violence.

And unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the situation.

According to data from the Department of Labor, workplace illness and injuries in healthcare workers skyrocketed in 2020, increasing by a staggering 249%. That year healthcare and social assistant workers suffered more workplace injuries and illnesses than any other industry in the country – cops and prison guards included.

As if workplace violence and injuries weren’t enough, a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine highlights how such environments can affect healthcare staff in the long term. According to the study’s data, healthcare workers specializing in social and behavioral health are more than three times more likely to die of a drug overdose compared to non-healthcare workers. This is likely owed, at least in part, to the increased occupational stresses of healthcare, authors of the paper suggested.

In a 2022 Annals of Medicine and Surgery paper addressing workplace violence in healthcare, authors warned that if the issue is not addressed, “it will become a global phenomenon, undermining the peace and stability among the active communities while also posing a risk to the population's health and well-being.”