according to a 2011 study by the emergency nurse association, 54.5% of 6,504 emergency nurse experienced physical violence and/or verbal abuse from a patient and/or visitor during the past week. the actual rate of incidences of violence is much higher because many incidents go unreported, due in part to the perception that assaults are "part of the job." last year, the american organization of nurse executives and ENA convened a day of dialogue to discuss the issue of violence against nurse in healthcare settings. the group, composed of ED nurses and nurse leaders in the acute care setting, discussed how incidents of violence are currently addressed in hospital; the need for partnership between hospital leaders, especially nurse leaders, and staff; and the need to create an environment where healthcare professionals, patients, and families feel safe. through facilitated dialogue, the group developed guiding principles and prioritized areas to assist all hospital leaders in systematically reducing lateral and patient and family violence in hospitals. the guiding principles on mitigating violence in the workplace and priority areas are listed. additional resources, including a toolkit to address workplace violence in healthcare setting, are available at aone.org/ workplace violence.