Three out of 5 nurse practitioners and students who responded to the 2021 survey questionnaire by Nursing Times and Unison said that they had experienced sexual harassment at work. For many, it has turn out to be a part of the job.
More recent data suggests the issue persists. In 2025 NHS Staff Survey In England, 11.36% of registered nurses and midwives said that they had experienced at the very least one incident of unwanted sexual behavior from patients, service users, visitors, relatives or members of the general public within the previous yr.
The problem shouldn’t be limited to 1 country or style of healthcare facility. All over the world, nurses report sexual comments, intrusive questions, non-consensual touching, intimidation and harassment from co-workers, patients and visitors. However, sexual harassment stays under-researched and sometimes doesn’t feature in public discussions about health care.
An issue hidden in plain sight
Sexual harassment in healthcare can take many forms: comments a few nurse’s body, repeated advances, sexual jokes, or unwanted contact during personal hygiene.
This is the behavior often minimized. Nurses could also be told that a patient “didn’t mean it,” that harassment is “part of the job,” or that it’s to be expected in certain situations.
This may be particularly difficult in areas similar to mental health or dementia care, where behavior can sometimes be affected cognitive impairment, illness or suffering. Illness will help staff understand why something happened. It doesn’t remove the damage caused. Nurses still need protection and proper monitoring.
Repeated harassment can affect your self-confidence, well-being and willingness to remain in your occupation. More detailed research is required on how nurses experience and reply to this phenomenon and whether organizational policies work in practice.
Who is most affected?
Gender, ethnicity, and workplace hierarchies shape nurses’ experiences. In the UKalmost 90% of execs on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register are women and around a 3rd are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background.
Sexual harassment is shaped on the idea of assumptions about who nurses are and what they need to tolerate. There are nurses this was often expected caring, patient and sacrificial. They are also sexualized in popular culture, from fantasy costumes to television dramas.
Nurses could have less power than doctors, senior managers and other professionals. Their work might also involve close physical contact. None of this makes abuse acceptable. Gender, ethnicity, seniority, age, sexuality and area of work can all influence what happens, how seriously the event is taken and whether the nurse will give you the option to report it.
When violence becomes normal
One of essentially the most disturbing features of sexual harassment in healthcare is how easily it may possibly be normalized. Harmful behavior involves be seen as extraordinary, inevitable, or not value questioning.
If a nurse repeatedly encounters sexual comments or unwanted touching, co-workers may advise the nurse to “laugh it off,” avoid a selected patient, or handle the situation quietly.
Formal reporting could appear dangerous. Nurses may worry that they will not be believed, that managers won’t do anything, or that speaking up may harm their profession. When incidents are handled informally, the burden falls on individual nurses and the broader culture stays unchanged.
Why current responses are inadequate
Healthcare systems are beginning to take sexual safety more seriously. From October 2024, employers have the choice legal obligation take reasonable steps to forestall sexual harassment.
From October 2026 it’s mandatory reinforcement is planned. Employers will probably be required to take all reasonable steps to forestall sexual harassment and can have a brand new duty to forestall harassment by third parties, including patients and visitors.
In England, NHS England, all NHS trusts and all integrated care boards have signed the agreement Sexual safety card committing them to a zero-tolerance approach to inappropriate sexual behavior.
NHS England also published: national policy framework to assist employees recognize and report sexual misconduct and access support. However, discussions may largely deal with co-workers’ behavior. What should occur if a patient repeatedly makes sexual comments, touches a nurse during care, becomes confused, frightened, or is seriously unwell?
Without clear answers, nurses could also be left to fend for themselves in these situations.
Listening to nurses
Reports like Surviving Scrubs revealed the seriousness of inappropriate sexual behavior in health care workplaces. Further research is required on nurses’ every day experiences of harassment from patients and visitors.
Recent scope review found that education and reporting systems were amongst essentially the most often proposed responses to nurse sexual harassment. Evidence on which interventions are effective remains to be limited.
Politics matters, but nurses also need managers who respond when an incident is reported, practical support after an incident and a piece culture that doesn’t require staff to stay silent.