A Policy Analysis on the Death of Alex Pretti and the Imperative to Protect the US Nursing Workforce

ABSTRACT: Violence against nurses is a systemic threat that compromises workforce safety and quality care, especially in HIV nursing. The death of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care nurse, exemplifies broader patterns of violence affecting nurses both within and beyond clinical settings and represents inherent risks of militarization within democratic societies. This commentary reviews epidemiologic evidence on violence against nurses, situated within systems of oppression, and assesses legislative efforts to protect the nursing workforce. Effective protection requires structural interventions such as enforceable occupational safety standards, organizational support, staffing reform, behavioral health resources, and partnerships for community violence prevention. Nurses' lives and the lives of the people and societies we care for depend on structural reform and health systems transformation.