City Research Online

Abstract

Objective: Reports of violence, and injuries to both staff and patients, in acute psychiatric inpatient settings, have led to the development and implementation of training courses in the Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the training of acute psychiatric ward nursing staff, and officially reported violent incident rates.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of training records (n = 312 course attendances) and violent incident rates (n = 684 incidents) over two and a half years on fourteen acute admission psychiatric wards (n = 5384 admissions) at three inner city hospitals.

Results: A positive association was found between training and violent incident rates. There was weak evidence that aggressive incident rates prompt course attendance, no evidence that course attendance reduces violence, and some evidence that update courses trigger small short term rises in rates of physical aggression. Course attendance was associated with a rise in physical and verbal aggression whilst staff were away from the ward.

Conclusions: The failure to find a drop in incident rates after training, coupled with the small increases detected, raises concerns over its efficacy as a preventative strategy. Alternatively the results are consistent with a threshold effect, indicating that once adequate numbers of staff have been trained, further training maintains a low rate of incidents.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	The official published article is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.57.7.1022
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences
Related URLs:	Author
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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