Health care workers have been experiencing a surge in workplace violence rates nationally since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, building on already rising rates in previous years. NNU regularly surveys nurses regarding health and safety conditions in their workplaces. This report analyzes new survey data, collected from 1,267 RNs working in 28 states and D.C. between July 2025 and May 2026, regarding nurses’ recent experiences of workplace violence. The results of NNU’s 2025–26 Workplace Violence Survey confirm that workplace violence continues to be a serious hazard impacting a majority of the nation’s nurses and patients, underlining the need for additional action to protect nurses, other health care workers, and their patients.

The myth of a “nurse shortage” persists, despite data showing that the supply of U.S. nurses is robust and growing significantly faster than the population overall. The members of National Nurses United, the nation’s largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses (RNs), live this reality every day.