Every 16 Hours
Every 16 hours, a nurse in BC goes off work because of violence.
Violence against nurses is not part of the job. But in hospitals, long-term care homes and community care settings across the province, nurses continue to experience physical violence, threats, harassment and abuse while providing care.
In 2025, nurses filed an average of 44 WorkSafeBC claims each month – that’s one nurse injured on the job roughly every 16 hours.
Following the NBA’s recent round of bargaining, special mediators recommended a comprehensive review of violence in health care. As that review gets underway, nurses are documenting what is happening in health-care workplaces and what needs to change.
If you’re a nurse, we need to hear from you.
If you’re a member of the public, you can help.
16 Hours Isn't Just a Number
A statistic can tell us how often a nurse goes off work because of violence. It can’t tell us what happened to them.
It can’t capture the nurse who was punched, kicked, bitten, threatened or harassed while providing care. It can’t show what it feels like to return for the next shift, or what repeated exposure to violence means for nurses, their colleagues and the people they care for.
Nurses can.
Through Every 16 Hours, nurses across BC are sharing their experiences of workplace violence in their own words, creating a public record of what violence in health care actually looks like.
Are you a nurse? Share your experience.
Help Make Health Care Safer
Nurses are speaking up about what they experience at work. You can help make sure they’re heard.
Tell your MLA and health authority leadership to implement the measures outlined by BCNU to protect nurses and ensure safe workplaces. Send a letter using the template below or personalize it with your own message. A copy of your letter will also be sent to:
- Honourable Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Health
- Anna Kindy, Official Opposition Critic for Health
WHAT NURSES ARE CALLING FOR
Violence in health care is preventable. Nurses have been clear about the changes that would make their workplaces safer.
As the provincial review gets underway, BCNU is calling for action from government and health authorities to better prevent violence, protect health-care workers and make care safer for everyone.
FIVE ACTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT
- Implement minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.
- Enhance the role of relational security officers across the province.
- Adopt an effective safety alert system and technology to aid prevention.
- Improve data collection and monitoring to mitigate risks.
- Fulfill the government’s 2016 promise to deliver a violence prevention framework.
FIVE ACTIONS FOR HEALTH AUTHORITIES
- Standardize violence risk assessments so patients are placed appropriately.
- Provide mandatory, role-specific violence-prevention training.
- Establish effective incident reporting, debriefing and support systems.
- Improve facility design to support safety for health-care workers and patients.
- Establish a culture of safety and leadership accountability.