Prison Violence Raises Alarms. Hospital Violence Is Just “Part of the Job.”

A recent report on rising assaults against Michigan corrections officers brought to mind what happens every day across the healthcare system. According to Bridge Michigan, assaults at Michigan’s highest-security prisons rose from 44 in 2023 to 71 in 2024. That increase has triggered union warnings, letters to state leadership, and public concern. At the same time, violence against medical workers happens more often, with far less attention and far fewer consequences.

National data cited by the American Hospital Association and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health show that healthcare workers are several times more likely to be assaulted on the job than workers in most other professions, including correctional officers. The risk is highest for nurses, aides, caregivers, EMTs, paramedics, and ambulance crews.

Violence in healthcare is not limited to psychiatric units. Nurses are punched, kicked, bitten, and threatened on medical floors. Caregivers are attacked while helping patients move, bathe, or take medication. EMS crews are assaulted while responding to emergencies in uncontrolled environments, often before police arrive. These incidents happen daily.

For more than 10 years working in healthcare, including psych, I personally saw nurses, doctors, and ancillary staff assaulted on a near-daily basis. These were not rare or shocking events inside the system. They were routine. Staff were expected to finish their shift, fill out an internal report if anything at all, and move on.

In the hospital industry, a large percentage of assaults go unreported. Staff are discouraged from calling police or pressing charges. Many are told, directly or indirectly, that violence is part of the job. Others stay silent out of fear of retaliation, loss of shifts, being labeled a problem employee, or damaging their career.

Hospitals often choose to keep these incidents internal. Public reports bring scrutiny, liability questions, and attention to staffing and security failures. That attention is something many institutions actively avoid. When staff do insist on pressing charges, the concern quickly shifts from the attacker to the worker. Retaliation becomes a real fear.

Correctional officers are right to raise alarms about rising violence in prisons. Their concerns are valid and deserve attention. But the reality is that medical and emergency workers face equal or greater risk of assault every day, with far less public awareness and far less accountability.

Prison violence makes headlines. Hospital violence is normalized. And the people tasked with saving lives are often expected to quietly absorb the damage.