In the course of delivering medical services, nurses work in settings that put their physical wellbeing at risk. One such setting is the psychiatric department. The psychiatric section of a healthcare organization harbors potentially aggressive and violent patients (McCann, Baird, & Muir-Cochrane, 2014). As such, it is paramount that nurses employ practices that warrant their safety. I choose to explore solutions to the aggression demonstrated by psychiatric patients because nurses will be less inclined to dissipate quality patient-care and adequately perform their responsibilities if they are always worried about the looming risk to their wellness. In this regard, exploring the evidence and coming up with best-practices to cope with violent patients in the psychiatry will not only ensure that nurses work in safe environments but would also improve the quality of care dispensed.
PICOT Question
In the psychiatric ward, patients who are above the age of eighteen years and are diagnosed with acute psychological disorders (P) would require proper staff-to-patient interaction (I) to reduce the incidence of aggressive behavior (O) compared to restricting patient freedom (C) over six months (T).
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P=Population : psychiatric patients above the age of eighteen years.
I=Intervention : proper staff-to-patient interaction.
C=Comparison: restricting patient freedom
O=Outcome: reduced incidence of aggressive behavior.
T=Time: six months.
According to Itzhaki et al. (2018), the high level of patient-nursing practitioner contacts in the medical setting predisposes nursed to a plethora of risks. The risk is notably higher in the psychiatric setting as opposed to non-psychiatric settings. The importance of ensuring the safety of nurses stems from the fact that exposure to violence raises the nurse’s stress level and predisposition to burnout. As a result, a nurse becomes less productive or delivers inferior services. Principally, exploring the problem and finding the evidence that would inform best-practices would be necessary in sustaining the quality of services offered by nurses and ensuring the general wellness of nurses.
References
Itzhaki, M., Bluvstein, I., Peles Bortz, A., Kostistky, H., Bar Noy, D., Filshtinsky, V., & Theilla, M. (2018). Mental health nurse’s exposure to workplace violence leads to job stress, which leads to reduced professional quality of life. Frontiers in psychiatry , 9 , 59
McCann, T. V., Baird, J., & Muir-Cochrane, E. (2014). Attitudes of clinical staff toward the causes and management of aggression in acute old age psychiatry inpatient units. BMC psychiatry , 14 (1), 80
