Healthcare Managers' Perceptions of Patient Perpetrated Aggression and Prevention Strategies: A Cross Sectional Survey.

Healthcare Managers' Perceptions of Patient Perpetrated Aggression and Prevention Strategies: A Cross Sectional Survey. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2016 Apr 29;:1-10 Authors: Baby M, Swain N, Gale C Abstract Patient or client aggression towards staff is a risk in healthcare. Healthcare takes place in a variety of settings, including hospitals, community, and Aged Care facilities. A minimal amount is known regarding the existence of safety and training measures available throughout the broad range of hospital and community healthcare services. A web-based survey of the type and frequency of violence experienced by healthcare staff was sent to unit managers working in mental health and older peoples' services of District Health Boards, Non-Governmental Organisations, and Aged Care facilities across New Zealand. One hundred and forty-one managers responded to the survey with a response rate of 79.21%. Managers reported high rates of verbal aggression and assaults against staff within their services. A total of 60% of respondents stated that an increase in assaults against staff was due to an increase in violent events and 43.1% related this to increased staff awareness and reporting of violent events to management. Communication skills and de-escalation training were provided across approximately 95% of organisations. The availability of safety measures including panic buttons, personal alarms, use of security personnel, and police assista...
Source: Issues in Mental Health Nursing - Category: Nursing Tags: Issues Ment Health Nurs Source Type: research