Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, relationships with patients and colleagues were the fuel that kept nurses coming back day after day. Consistently identified as the most ethical and trusted profession for more than 2 decades, nursing has enjoyed positive regard and admiration by patients for its ethical standards, reliable care, and presence.1  Teams comprised of diverse clinicians and other health care workers created a foundation of competence and confidence that contributed to safety, quality, and camaraderie. Leaders and organizations, responsible for creating a supportive environment, invested in programs of nursing excellence such as American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet or Pathways to Excellence programs. In many communities, there were partnerships with health care systems and the people they served. In some places there was a sense of shared purpose and solidarity.

But things have changed. Levels of violence against nurses have skyrocketed.2,3  Patients are turning against nurses’...

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