TO: Professor Pagan
FROM: Ashley Blake
DATE: 06 November 2020
SUBJECT: Researcher Proposal Memo
The topic I will be discussing is violence within the workplace as it relates to Nursing. Statistics
show that violence within the workplace against healthcare employees is on the rise. The verbal
and physical assaults that a nurse may experience can have long lasting negative impacts on
them. It can affect their well-being and mental health. Violence within the workplace affects job
satisfaction which could be detrimental to others within the healthcare facility.
When we think about violence in the workplace one generally thinks about “fighting” or an
assault of some sort. Although assaults take a large percentage of workplace violence incidents
such as assaults inflicted by coworkers, supervisors, or even patients, we must also take into
account the mental and physical abuse healthcare workers face on a daily basis. As stressful as
the healthcare profession is already, one should not dread going to work because of the mental,
emotional, or physical abuse they may endure. Mental and emotional abuse come in many forms.
Some examples that nurses may be a victim of would be sexual harassment or unwanted sexual
attention from a male or female co-worker or patient, constant degrading from supervisors or co-
workers about job performance or outside work situations. This may become oppressive when a
nurse is working a 12-hour shift with the abuser and they have to endure it on a daily basis. This
matters to the professional community because a safe environment should not be a privilege; a
safe work environment is mandatory through state and national guidelines. Safety in the
professional community is also vital to job retention.
There are many areas I plan to target in my research. The first area that I plan to focus on
researching is the different types of violence that a Nurse may experience in the work place. I
want to find specific research that goes into detail about the physical, mental, and emotional
superiors.