[1] The Occupational Safety and Health Administration used 2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics and reported that healthcare workplace violence requiring days absent from work from patients represented 80% of cases.
[6] Causes for the increased presence of violence, especially in urban settings, are related to gang activity, lengthened waiting periods to see a doctor, a failure of community medical resources, and unavailable acute psychiatric treatment.
A report from the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime dedicates underreporting is likely due to a fear of retaliation, or belief that it will not lead to any change.
[1] Many qualitative studies done on nurses suggest that there is frequent discouragement by hospital officials and legal officers to not press charges against abusive patients or their families related to an understanding that violence is a part of the job.
[5] OSHA sampled one hospital who paid for medical treatment of 30 staff members subject to patient-initiated violence over a one-year period costing $94,146.
[2] A study in Orebro Reginal Hospital in Sweden suggested a link between patient-initiated violence, burnout, and decreased care outcomes.
The Veterans Health Administration has reduced occurrences of assaults by flagging high risk based on previous documentation of attacks on caregivers.