Nurses are under attack—literally. And one Philadelphia-based nurse-led organization is saying enough is enough. Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates has launched Protect Our Nurses, a bold, multi-channel advocacy campaign calling for federal legislation and national awareness to address the escalating epidemic of workplace violence against nurses and healthcare workers. The campaign seeks to reframe the issue not as a series of isolated incidents, but as what it truly is: a public health crisis.
At the forefront is Betty Long, MHA, RN, President, CEO, and Founder of Guardian Nurses. Her organization, which earned the 2023 Edge Runners honor from the American Academy of Nursing for its innovative Mobile Care Coordinator® program, is known for championing nurses. But this latest initiative is personal.
“According to an analysis by Press Ganey, every 25 minutes, a nurse is assaulted at work,” says Long. “In recent months, the nation has been shaken by harrowing headlines, with a fatal hostage situation in the ICU at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Pa., and a horrifically violent attack on a nurse at HCA Florida Palms West Hospital.”
These incidents were the tipping point—but they’re far from isolated.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, healthcare workers are five times more likely to face workplace violence than employees in other fields. Nearly half of all nurses report being physically assaulted, and 68% say they’ve endured verbal abuse. The consequences ripple far beyond the hospital floor: 85% of nurses report anxiety, 60% report depression, and 81% report burnout, according to the CDC’s 2023 Vital Signs report.
From Tragedy to Action
The moment that moved Long from concern to action came when violence hit too close to home.
“Several months ago, a Philadelphia ER nurse was critically injured when a driver ‘ran over’ him and his two colleagues,” recalls Long. “Then, a nurse in Palm Beach, Florida, was brutally beaten by a patient and had multiple facial fractures and vision problems.”
She took the trauma to her team of 60 full-time nurses and asked a simple question: How many of you have been a victim of violence while working at the bedside?
“Forty-nine people raised their hands,” Long recalls. “Looking around the room, seeing their faces as they realized how many of their colleagues shared their history made me sick to my stomach. That was the moment I knew I had to do something.”
A Crisis Misunderstood
Part of the problem, Long explains, is how workplace violence in healthcare has been normalized—and minimized.
“For too long, the expectation has been that individual nurses must manage violent situations through de-escalation training, through ‘resilience,’ or by simply enduring it,” she says. “But if we call it what it is—a public health crisis—we shift the responsibility to where it belongs: institutions, legislators, and leaders.”
By framing it this way, the campaign aims to challenge the dangerous idea that violence is simply “part of the job” for nurses.
“When nearly 50% of workplace assaults happen in health care settings, and nurses are being punched, kicked, threatened, and traumatized on a daily basis, we’re far beyond isolated incidents,” says Long. “This is a pattern. It’s a system failure. And like any public health crisis, it demands a coordinated, national response.”
Mobilizing for Change
The Protect Our Nurses campaign features multiple components to amplify its message and mobilize public support:
- A Change.org petition hosted at ProtectOurNurses.com, urging Congress to make assault or intimidation of healthcare workers a federal crime
- Digital billboards in high-traffic areas across the Greater Philadelphia region and beyond
- A social media campaign centered around the message: “Nurses show up for us. It’s time we show up for them.”
- Targeted email outreach to Guardian Nurses’ network of partners and healthcare professionals
- A website pop-up banner at guardiannurses.com to drive awareness and action
And the advocacy won’t stop there. This June, Long traveled to Capitol Hill with the American Organization for Nursing Leadership to meet with legislators and push for long-overdue federal protections.
“We believe it’s time to turn outrage into action and demand the same protections for nurses that are already in place for flight crews and other public workers,” she says.
Stop the Violence, Join the Movement
Nurses are the backbone of healthcare. They care for patients at their most vulnerable. Now, they need care and protection themselves.
“This isn’t just a workplace issue,” says Long. “It’s a public health emergency. It shouldn’t be tolerated. It shouldn’t be downplayed by management. And it sure as hell shouldn’t be normalized.”
To learn more and add your voice, visit ProtectOurNurses.com or Guardiannurses.com. Sign the petition. Share the message. Protect the protectors. Because violence should never be part of the job description.
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