Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that nursing home workers experience high rates of assaults, which is consistent with previous research that shows nursing home workers face a high level of conflict. Nursing home workers' rates of both assault and overexertion are higher than those experienced by home health care workers. This suggests that the nursing home environment has characteristics that contribute to violence against workers as well as their overexertion. This could also make the nursing home setting vulnerable to patient abuse. Such risk is consistent with Nelson and Cox (2004), who notes that nursing homes are "a virtual hotbed of conflict." Structural and situational factors in nursing homes and their relationship to patient abuse should be addressed in future research. Study data were obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which records data from employers that are required under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Annual data are reported on the number of workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. In addition, data are maintained on all kinds of injuries experienced by all workers that require missing at least 1 day of work. The data can easily be distinguished by injury type and occupation. Such data were examined for nursing home and home health care workers for 1993 and 2002. 2 figures and 42 references