As a new BSN graduate, there are two related issues that need to be addressed by you as future nurse leaders: the nursing shortage and workplace violence. While workplace violence has many titles, it is often referred to as “the elephant in the room” as a topic that should not be occurring within a caring and person-oriented profession. For this essay, please describe how bullying or lateral violence occurs in the practice environment, are there risk factors, regulations in place to prevent it from providing quality patient care? This involves the direct and indirect impact of the different types of workplace violence. The key element to be addressed is the impact of workplace violence on the nursing shortage and/or nurse retention. Do nurse’s ‘eat their young? At what point do nurses leave resulting in a nursing shortage?