Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Violence risk assessment is commonplace in mental health settings and is gradually being used in emergency care. The aim of this review was to explore the efficacy of undertaking violence risk assessment in reducing patient violence and to identify which tool(s), if any, are best placed to do so. ⋯ There is a paucity of high-quality evidence evaluating the psychometric properties of violence risk assessment tools currently used along the emergency care pathway. Multiple tools exist, and they could have a role in reducing violence in emergency care. However, the limited testing of their psychometric properties, acceptability, feasibility, and usability in emergency care means that it is not possible to favor one tool over another until further research is conducted.
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Violence against nurses working in the emergency department is a serious problem worldwide. ⋯ Most emergency nurses had experienced workplace violence. Hospital administration should take more effective security measures, hospitals should provide education and training programs for dealing with workplace violence, and programs to support staff members on encountering workplace violence should be implemented.
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Nurses in the emergency department often encounter patients exhibiting signs of aggressive behavior. Nurses need to know the pharmacologic treatment appropriate for the patient scenario to ensure safety for the patient and the emergency department team. ⋯ After each case review is a discussion about the appropriate pharmacologic therapy for that patient. The cases portrayed are fictional but based on experience and previous observations.
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Emergency nurses, physicians, and patients experience occurrences of workplace violence. Having a team to respond to escalating behavioral events provides a consistent approach to reducing occurrences of workplace violence and increasing safety. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to design, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a behavioral emergency response team in an emergency department to reduce occurrences of workplace violence and increase the perception of safety. ⋯ Postimplementation, participants reported an increase in the perception of safety. Implementation of a behavioral emergency response team was effective in reducing assaults toward emergency department team members and increasing the perception of safety.