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 downtown Atlanta on May 3. The violence came one day after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a hospital safety act into law. (Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images)

ATLANTA — 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.