Georgia hospitals create police forces to stem growing violence against staff

One person died and four were injured in a shooting at a medical office building in Midtown Atlanta on May 3. The violence came one day after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a hospital safety act into law. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

When Destiny heard screams, she raced to a hospital room where she saw a patient assaulting a care technician. As a charge nurse at Northeast Georgia Health System, she was trained to de-escalate violent situations.

But that day in the spring of 2021, as Destiny intervened, for several minutes the patient punched, kicked and bit her. And by the time a team of security guards and other nurses could free her, the patient had ripped out chunks of Destiny’s hair.

“We are not protected on our floors,” she said as she recapped the story during testimony later that year to the Georgia Senate Study Committee on Violence Against Healthcare Workers. Destiny used only her first name at the hearing, for fear of retaliation for speaking out against the patient who assaulted her.