We, the students Belmont University, who are concerned for the safety of nurses around the country, petition Tennessee to implement violence prevention training programs for all healthcare facilities to decrease the amount of physical assault to nurses.

According to a study done in the Journal of Emergency Nursing done in 2014, about 80% of nurses report being attacked on the job just within the past year, and this number is only increasing. In 2015, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that attacks on health-care workers accounted for 70% of all nonfatal workplace assaults causing days away from work. Only 8 states, not including Tennessee, have laws that require violence prevention training programs to all health-care employers. These programs will not only educate nurses on what to do in situations where they are in danger of physical assault, but it would also decrease this astonishing amount of physical assaults towards nurses.