How Hospitals are Taking Action to Reduce Workplace Violence

April 15, 2025

Workplace violence is a growing cause for concern in health care—and hospitals are leading efforts to prevent it.

On Tuesday, HAP hosted a roundtable discussion at Reading Hospital to bring together regional hospital leaders, elected officials, law enforcement, and other community stakeholders to discuss the challenges and solutions surrounding violence in health care.

“Our message is that, no matter what, this is never OK,” said Christopher Chamberlain, MS, RN, CHEP, HAP’s vice president, emergency management. “Being subjected to violence in the workplace is never part of the job.”

 

 

Here are four takeaways from today’s roundtable discussion:

• Ongoing efforts:  Hospitals are implementing new technologies, de-escalation training, no-tolerance notices, and other public awareness campaigns that focus on preventing violence against their teams.
• Law enforcement perspective:  Law enforcement and prosecutors must carefully assess these incidents when they occur and collaborate with hospitals throughout the process. This is especially pertinent in cases involving mental health.
  • Hospitals are working to help their teams understand the next steps with law enforcement and prosecutors after incidents occur.
• Pandemic effect:  The pandemic—combined with rising political polarization—has escalated tensions and hostility toward the health care community.
  • Hospitals are seeing more events involving both visitors and patients.
• The bottom line:  Workplace violence against health care workers is a community issue. Growing hostility toward health care staff is causing moral distress that requires immediate action.

HAP and Pennsylvania’s hospital community continue to raise awareness about violence in health care while supporting initiatives focused on prevention. This includes advocacy for the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act, a federal initiative to enhance protections and provide grants to prevent violence in hospitals, and support for state legislation providing grants for hospitals to tailor safety initiatives to their facilities.

Learn more about this important issue online. For more about today’s event, contact Christopher Chamberlain, MS, RN, CHEP, HAP’s vice president, emergency management.