U of M Medical School research team studies homicides of health professionals

(Press-News.org) MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (09/26/2023) — Published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, University of Minnesota Medical School researchers examined homicide rates of health professionals in the United States to inform prevention interventions and strategies.

The research team used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) to collect data on the number of homicides among ten types of health professionals, including doctors, psychologists, nurses, social workers and pharmacists. 

The study found rates of homicides of health professionals are lower than the general population. Few of these homicides were related to professionals' work. Most often, it’s related to other facets of their life, such as domestic violence and societal trends like gun violence. 

Specifically, their research found: 

944 homicides of these professionals were reported to the NVDRS between 2003 and 2020.  In 2020 alone, 126 health professional homicide victims were reported.  Nearly 80% of these homicide victims were women.  56% of these homicides involved a gun.  “Violence in healthcare is a well-recognized problem. Tragically, some health professionals are murdered each year in the United States,” said William Robiner, PhD, professor at the U of M Medical School and psychologist with M Health Fairview. “The loss of each health professional affects their loved ones, colleagues, patients and communities, and compounds healthcare access issues and workforce shortages.”   

Overall, the number of homicides within these professions correlated highly with the size of professions' workforces. For example, the health profession with the highest number of victims was nursing, which reflects that nursing is the largest healthcare profession. Further research is suggested to provide greater insights into emerging trends, which will inform strategies to mitigate homicide risk in health professionals. Prevention also needs to go beyond healthcare settings and address societal roots of violence.

Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences [grant UL1TR002494]. 

Co-authors of this research from the U of M Medical School include Rachel Barnes, PhD, Rebecca Freese, MS, Brooke Palmer, PhD, and Michael Kim, MD.

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About the University of Minnesota Medical School
The University of Minnesota Medical School is at the forefront of learning and discovery, transforming medical care and educating the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and faculty produce high-impact biomedical research and advance the practice of medicine. We acknowledge that the U of M Medical School, both the Twin Cities campus and Duluth campus, is located on traditional, ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota and the Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous people, and we affirm our commitment to tribal communities and their sovereignty as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with tribal nations. For more information about the U of M Medical School, please visit med.umn.edu. 

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