Ad campaign features front-line nurses sharing experiences as part of ‘bruised and battered workforce’
Nurse unions across Canada are intensifying their call for urgent action against workplace violence as new data reveals the scale of attacks on health-care workers.
The Ontario Nurses’ Association has launched a campaign, calling attention to what provincial president Erin Ariss described as a “bruised and battered workforce.” The campaign, titled “Code Black and Blue,” features real front-line nurses sharing their experiences with workplace violence in ads across transit shelters, social media, television, and print newspapers throughout the province.
“With virtually every nurse and health-care professional experiencing workplace violence, we are using the phrase to reveal the reality of a bruised and battered workforce and call a code for urgent action as we do in our hospitals,” Ariss said.
The Ontario Nurses’ Association represents 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, along with more than 18,000 nursing student affiliates working in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, community settings, clinics, and industry.
National survey reveals systemic gaps
According to the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, six in 10 nurses reported experiencing violence over a one-year period, underscoring the urgent need to ensure the safety of frontline workers.
The 2025 survey also found troubling gaps in workplace safety measures. The survey revealed that 37% of respondents are not receiving workplace violence and harassment training, while 40% are not receiving health and safety orientation.
“Violence has become a constant threat for nurses and health-care professionals while they’re at work,” said Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. “Facing violence at work is unacceptable and would not be tolerated in other workplaces.”
Ontario is set to introduce new legislation aimed at making it easier and faster for health-care professionals from other provinces and territories to work in the province, the Ontario government announced.
Calls for multi-pronged solutions
Both organizations are urging governments and employers to implement comprehensive safety measures. The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions is calling on health ministers to invest in training and prevention programs, mandate minimum nurse-patient ratios to reduce risks exacerbated by excessive workloads, and enforce Criminal Code and occupational health and safety legislation.
Additional recommendations include installing violence prevention infrastructure such as weapons detection systems, surveillance cameras, and personal alarms for workers.
“We know how to stop never-ending physical and verbal assaults against nurses,” Ariss said. “Yet our employers and the provincial government have refused to take the measures shown to greatly reduce the violence we face daily, including mandated safe staffing levels.”
Double standard highlighted
Ariss pointed to what she described as a “shocking double standard” in how different first responders are protected, noting that the safety of firefighters and emergency medical services personnel receives more serious attention while nurses are expected to tolerate violence.
“Violence is not and should never be part of the job,” Silas noted.
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions represents 250,000 frontline unionized nurses and nursing students across all health-care sectors.
