This week’s graphic features data from an American Hospital Association (AHA) report about violence in the healthcare workplace. As measured by days away from work, job restriction or transfer due to intentional injury caused by another person, the workplace violence rate in healthcare was nearly 5 times as high as the general rate in all sectors in 2021—2022. And it’s costly; in 2023 hospitals and health systems spent approximately $14.6 billion after violent events, nearly three-quarters of which went to direct costs to treat injuries. The AHA report highlights the magnitude of violence as a public health problem; its authors hope to inform policy and research efforts to address violence impacting U.S. hospitals and the healthcare system.
