In San Diego’s hospitals, nurses say dodging threats has become part of the job description. On any given shift, they are delivering bedside care while staying ready for raised voices, verbal abuse and the very real possibility of a patient or visitor taking a swing.
Front-line staff and hospital leaders describe a spectrum of incidents, from shouting matches and intimidation to assaults serious enough to trigger security responses and criminal charges. The problem is not unique to San Diego. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that workers in the health care and social assistance sector experience workplace violence at about five times the rate seen in other industries, a national pattern that has pushed local hospitals and law enforcement to put prevention, tracking and follow-up at the top of their to-do lists.
“When you're in a hospital, when you're managing a patient, there's proximity,” Marguerite Paradis, chief nursing officer at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, told NBC 7 San Diego. Registered nurse Lindsay Bond told the station that staff in the busiest emergency departments routinely meet patients and families on some of the worst days of their lives, which can escalate tense situations fast. She said she has not second-guessed becoming a nurse despite the dangers and added that she even always wears bright scrubs as a small, personal way to keep spirits up.
Regional task force coordinates hospitals and prosecutors
To tackle the problem in a more coordinated way, hospitals, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors created the San Diego Hospital Workforce Violence Task Force in 2023, according to Scripps Health. The group is focused on prevention and prosecution strategies, along with better data-sharing so that patterns are harder to miss.
The task force has promoted dedicated hospital-police liaisons, law-enforcement rounding through emergency departments, upgraded staff training and a new incident-tracking system intended to give leaders a clearer picture of when and where violence occurs.
Prosecutions rise as nurses report high rates of violence
On the legal front, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office has increased its work on cases that start in hospital hallways. Since July 2023, prosecutors have pursued roughly 140 hospital-related violence cases, according to KPBS.
Even with that bump in prosecutions, nurses say the scope of the problem is hard to overstate. A national survey by National Nurses United found that about 85% of nurses reported experiencing at least one form of workplace violence in the previous year, a figure the union argues reflects major gaps in prevention at many facilities. NNU also reports that some proven safety measures remain underused.
Law changes give prosecutors more tools
State lawmakers have tried to give prosecutors sharper tools. Assembly Bill 977, signed into law in 2025, increased potential jail time and financial penalties for people who assault emergency department workers, according to CalMatters. Another measure, Senate Bill 19, created Penal Code section 422.3, which allows prosecution of threats directed at certain locations, including medical facilities. A law-enforcement training bulletin notes that the new statute took effect on Jan. 1.
Supporters say the tougher laws give prosecutors more options when a situation inside a hospital turns criminal. Critics counter that increasing penalties alone will not address the roots of many incidents, which they link to mental health crises and chronic understaffing that leaves workers more exposed.
Hospital leaders say early results from prevention efforts are encouraging in some places. Scripps and other systems report reductions in certain injury metrics where police rounding and liaison programs are in place. At the same time, nurses and unions argue that bigger, systemic changes, including better staffing levels, clearer reporting processes, and a federal workplace violence prevention standard, are still needed to make hospitals safer for both patients and the people who care for them.
