Workplace Violence Grant Program
House Bill 280 (H.B. 280), 85th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, added Section 105.011 to include a workplace violence grant program. Program rules are available in the Texas Administrative Code, Title 25, Part 1, Chapter 13, Subchapter G. The Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies administers the grant program to fund innovative approaches for reducing verbal and physical violence against nurses in hospitals, freestanding emergency medical care facilities, nursing facilities, and home health agencies.
Request for Applications
Check back in Summer 2027 for information on the next application cycle.
2026-2027 Grant Recipients
Four awards were made through the 2026-2027 Workplace Violence Against Nurses Grant Program. These awardees will implement their projects and measure their impact on violence in the workplace until May 2028. Their final project presentations will take place in July 2028.
| Grantee | Award Amount | Project Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas County Hospital District - Parkland Health | $200,000 | Parkland Health will pilot wearable duress alert technology in high-risk clinical areas, including the Emergency Department, an inpatient surgical unit, and an ambulatory specialty clinic. The project will strengthen workplace violence prevention by improving emergency response, event reporting, and staff safety through integration with police response and the safety reporting system. Parkland will also provide staff training, psychological safety support, and data-driven evaluation to develop a scalable model for reducing workplace violence. |
| Midland Memorial Hospital | $82,737 | Midland Memorial Hospital (MMH) will implement four workplace violence prevention initiatives. The hospital will deploy AI-powered weapons detection software in collaboration with its police department to improve threat detection. It will provide psychological first aid training, including structured debriefing and peer support following violent incidents. MMH will also host a regional workplace violence prevention conference in spring 2027 and offer monthly online continuing education through its S.H.I.E.L.D. (Safety, Health, Intervention, Engagement, Leadership Development) program on violence prevention topics for hospital, rural, and community nurses. |
| Shannon Medical Center | $184,595 | Shannon Medical Center will reduce workplace violence by implementing a wearable duress alert system and providing Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) Verbal Intervention Certified Instructor Training. These strategies will give nurses real-time access to emergency assistance while strengthening their ability to recognize, de-escalate, and respond to potentially violent situations. |
| Tarrant County Hospital District - JPS | $200,000 | JPS Health Network will expand training across its medical-surgical units to improve staff safety and reduce workplace violence. Through a train-the-trainer model, JPS will train approximately 300 nurses in de-escalation and violence prevention techniques. The project will also prepare 20 nurse champions to serve as unit-based leaders and support early intervention efforts. |
For a list of previous awardees, please email us.
Grant Program Reports
- 2025 Update on Implementation of Workplace Violence Against Nurses Prevention Grant Program Legislative Report (PDF, 288KB)
- 2024 Update on Implementation of Workplace Violence Against Nurses Prevention Grant Program Legislative Report (PDF, 257KB)
- 2023 Update on Implementation of Workplace Violence Against Nurses Prevention Grant Program Legislative Report (PDF, 251KB)
- 2022 Update on Implementation of Workplace Violence Against Nurses Prevention Grant Program Legislative Report (PDF, 772 KB)
- 2021 Update on Implementation of Workplace Violence Against Nurses Prevention Grant Program Legislative Report (PDF, 411 KB)
- 2020 Update on Implementation of Workplace Violence Against Nurses Prevention Grant Program Legislative Report (PDF, 886 KB)
You can also access data and reports from the workplace violence studies conducted by the TCNWS.