Abstract: the paper presents some findings from survey of nurses in four major hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa. .  The sub-aim of the study was to examine the extent to which violence in the work environment is changing the ethos of caring amongst nurses working in Cape Town.  Study design: two qualitative approaches were selected to study the phenomena. The first was ethnographic which examined the culture within the nursing profession that allowed violence to occur. The second is phenomenology to study the different types and levels of violence impacting on nursing care. Method of data collection: confidential survey of all nurses working in four major hospitals, individual and group interviews of nurses in each hospital, key informants interview including support workers, and review of official documents.  Analysis: quantitative analysis of survey responses utilising ‘STATISTICA' software and qualitative analysis of open-ended questions. Interview responses and official documents would be analysed to facilitate verification of cross-check reported violent incidences in the workplace and remedial actions taken.  Analysis would also include the identification of similarities and differences between departments and within units of same department in each of the four hospitals.  Results: initial results obtained indicated that health care consumers tend to direct their anger and frustration with service provision on nursing staff in specific units/departments. Although verbal abuses are occasionally directed at male nurses, female nurses and especially black female nurses tend to bear the blunt of both physical and verbal abuse from the general public Implication for practice: The study will provide documented evidence of the impact of violence on female nurses in the Cape Town Unicity area. The study is still in progress and funded by the Faculty of Health Sciences and the South African Medical Research Council.