Striking hospital employees sound alarm over workplace violence

Rising violence and staff shortages stoke hospital strikes Along with pay, striking hospital workers say patient violence is an matter.

Key points

• Mental health worker Andrew Kimball-Mirzaie remarked he secured hurt in February 2024 at Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I.
• Emergency room nurse Crystal Dhooghe speaks during a rally at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on March 17.
• Catherine Maynard, a nurse at Butler Hospital, speaks at a union rally at the State House in Providence, R.I., on May 23.
• "Emergency rooms right now are like a powder keg, " remarked Rachel Odes, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing.
• The attack emboldened Kimball-Mirzaie to join some 700 other unionized Butler workers last spring and summer in a months-long strike.

Emergency room nurse Crystal Dhooghe speaks during a rally at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on March 17. She is among hundreds of unionized employees at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital who have been on strike since Sept. 1, 2025. Teamsters J.C.43 hide caption.

Nurse Crystal Dhooghe is applied to dealing with blood and broken bones in the emergency room. But she didn't expect to witness so much violence against her own colleagues. This story was produced in partnership with KFF Health News.

"I've seen nurses obtain shoved, pushed, scratched. The biggest one is bitten, " remarked Dhooghe. This person works at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc, Mich.

For context, the prevalence of workplace violence in healthcare has fueled strikes in states such as Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Michigan, where Dhooghe and plenty of of her co-workers have been on the picket line since Labor Day of last year.

"People will question me and be like, 'Why are you still working in a place if you're treated like this?'" remarked Dhooghe, who gets by on strike benefits and working extra shifts at another hospital. The difficulty, she stated, is that other hospitals aren't any better. "It's the same everywhere I go."

In an official note, Henry Ford spokesperson Dana Jay acknowledged violence against healthcare workers is a "national epidemic" and remarked the health system's efforts to address the challenge include metal detectors, armed security officers trained to create "misdemeanor arrests" and de-escalation training.

"We have zero tolerance for violence of any kind, " remarked Jay, asserting the strike is not concerning safety but is instead "simply an economic strike."

Nationwide, hospital workers are seven times as probable to be injured on the job due to violent acts as members of the general working population, according to the most recent data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The outcry over workplace violence in healthcare is pitting workers' demands for better compensation and staffing against hospital operators pressured to cut costs. When ERs feel like "a powder keg".

Violent outbursts are so common that they've been dramatized on the popular medical TV series The Pitt.

In hospitals, a combative or violent patient is known as a "code gray." Outbursts can be spontaneous and unpredictable, making some almost impossible to prevent.

But research demonstrates the risk of violence increases when hospitals are understaffed or employees are insufficiently trained or experienced.

He'd been working at the private psychiatric hospital for regarding six weeks and stated he hadn't yet worked in the ER.

He remarked he was sent there to "monitor" a man in his 20s who was waiting for an inpatient bed.

For context, the patient was alone in a back room watching a Knicks basketball game on TV, he recalled. Kimball-Mirzaie remarked he secured the patient a drink and a snack.

They were watching the game when, suddenly, he remarked, the patient stood up and punched him in the face.

Andrew Kimball-Mirzaie, a mental health worker at Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I., notes he was assaulted by a patient. He participated in a three-month strike that began this spring. Lynn Arditi hide caption.

He remarked the assault left him with a concussion and broken nose. His injuries were documented in the hospital's incident log.

"I understand that there is an inherent danger with the job, " Kimball-Mirzaie remarked.

He doesn't blame the patient. This person was particularly ill at the time. "We should have had at least another staff member with us, " he remarked, "and I should have been adequately trained on the unit."

For context, the attack emboldened Kimball-Mirzaie to join some 700 other unionized Butler workers last spring and summer in a months-long strike. It forced the hospital to close almost half of its beds. Service Employees International Union 1199 New England declared the strike a win.

Employees received wage increases that union leaders remarked would enable the hospital to attract and retain more staff.

Meanwhile, the hospital additionally agreed to provide financial backing for workers violently injured on the job. And the hospital and union agreed to jointly fund a "time bank" to supplement workers' compensation for injured workers who need more time to recover.

But five months afterwards, a nurse supervisor at Butler had to call 911 as an unarmed patient in the hospital's ER was assaulting staff. According to the police report, by the time police arrested the patient, he'd injured two nurses, a security guard and a police officer.

"Butler recognizes the importance of being proactive in protecting those who provide care, " Mary Marran, Butler's president and chief operating officer, remarked in an official note. She continued that hospital leadership meets regularly with staff to review safety measures and "identify opportunities to strengthen protection for everyone."

In practice, the patient was charged with four counts of felony assault, including against the two nurses.

Notably, the American Hospital Association has remarked punishment is key to preventing violence. It has been lobbying Congress to create assaulting healthcare workers a federal crime that would carry up to 10 years in prison.

At least 45 states, including Michigan and Rhode Island, have enacted similar laws.

But workplace safety experts say there is no evidence that such laws have reduced the incidence of violence against healthcare workers.

Striking healthcare workers around the country often have demanded "safe staffing" instead of stronger punishments for patients who cause injuries.

Notably, the rise in violence against healthcare workers has caught the attention of the Joint Commission, the accreditation organization for more than 80% of U.S. Hospitals and health systems.

In practice, the commission published national performance goals that took effect in January and require hospitals to be properly staffed and that staff be trained "to provide safe, quality care."

Catherine Maynard, a nurse at Butler Hospital, speaks at a union rally at the State House in Providence, R.I., on May 23. Steve Ahlquist hide caption.

But no federal law limits the number of patients in a nurse's care throughout healthcare settings. The nation's largest nurses union, National Nurses United, having pressed for a national standard since 2018.

Hospitals must "safely staff all units" to enable nurses to "provide the care that patients need before they get agitated or disoriented, " remarked Jane Thomason, lead industrial hygienist for National Nurses United.

Some states have passed their own staffing laws. Only California has enacted broad mandatory nurse staffing ratios. It research demonstrates were associated with lower mortality rates and probable higher retention. Oregon enacted a staffing law, with exceptions.

Legislators in Massachusetts and New Jersey have introduced similar bills, but they have failed to advance to floor votes.

For context, the American Hospital Association opposes mandatory minimum nurse staffing ratios in hospitals, saying they would "remove real-time clinical judgment and flexibility, " compound staffing shortages, and potentially force some hospitals to turn away patients or delay care, spokesperson Colleen Kincaid remarked.

For now, striking hospital employees sound alarm over workplace violence remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.