EXPERIENCES OF SEVEN NURSES WHO RELATE WITH VIOLENCE-PRONE PSYCHIATRIC INPATIENTS.
Contributors: New York University.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 167
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Mental Health.
Description: This is a qualitative interview study of the experiences of nurses working with violence-prone psychiatric inpatients. There were seven participants, five women and two men, with from 4 to 26 years of experience. The setting was a 36-bed inpatient unit in a county health center.

The participants all reported that they were not adequately prepared before beginning their responsibilities with violence-prone psychiatric inpatients. They felt they had become knowledgeable primarily through their own experiences with violence-prone patients, including the experience of being assaulted and, to a lesser extent, by attending in-service training programs. They used what they had learned to respond to patients' violence-prone behavior. Within the context of the therapeutic relationship, they stressed the importance of observation, talking, listening, and only when they felt it necessary used medications and/or restraint or seclusion.

All the nurses in this study expressed the belief that some violence was both unpredictable and unpreventable. They also expressed a mental association of violence with men, rather than with women, even if that contrasted with their own experiences. Finally, the participants reported having strong feelings about the presence of some unsuitable staff who failed to recognize that patients are people, too.

Recommendations for practice suggested by the findings include education about violence-prone patients in basic nursing education curricula, workplace orientation programs, and ongoing in-service education. Continuing supervision and support for nurses is also recommended.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-02, Section: B, page: 0744.

Thesis (PH.D.)--NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, 1993.

School code: 0146.