Assaults by patients: the experience and attitudes of psychiatric hospital nurses

Four hundred and twenty-five nurses working in a 420 bed metropolitan psychiatric hospital were asked to complete a questionnaire about their experience of physical assault by patients and their attitude toward the problem. 61% returned the questionnaire. The overall mean annual rate of assault per...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAustralian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry Vol. 26; no. 4; p. 567
Main Authors Baxter, E, Hafner, R J, Holme, G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.12.1992
Subjects
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Attitude of Health Personnel
Female
Hospitals, Psychiatric
Humans
Male
Mental Disorders - nursing
Mental Disorders - psychology
Middle Aged
Nurse-Patient Relations
Personality Inventory
Psychiatric Nursing
Violence
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Summary:Four hundred and twenty-five nurses working in a 420 bed metropolitan psychiatric hospital were asked to complete a questionnaire about their experience of physical assault by patients and their attitude toward the problem. 61% returned the questionnaire. The overall mean annual rate of assault per nurse was 2.0, with student psychiatric nurses (mean 6.7) significantly more at risk than any other group. Nurses working in the psychogeriatric area reported more than double the rate of assaults reported by nurses working in rehabilitation services. 60% of respondents were female; there were very few sex differences in attitudes to assault. Overall, nurses reported a high tolerance for assault, although they recognised it as an experience that was often very traumatic psychologically. Views about managing assaultiveness differed widely, and this lack of consensus probably hinders the development of optimal strategies to deal with what is a major problem in many psychiatric units.
ISSN:0004-8674
DOI:10.3109/00048679209072090