Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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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.
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Patient violence in health care facilities occurs daily. Structured risk assessments, when regularly completed, have been effective in prompting interventions to reduce aggression in Behavioral Health (BH) settings. ⋯ Using an evidence-based screening tool helped identify BH patients with behaviors associated with aggressive ED events. Proactive use of interventions, including use of Comfort Cart items, de-escalation, and prescribed medications, can positively influence reduction of risk from aggressive behaviors within BH patient populations in EDs.
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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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Emergency nurses experience a myriad of negative consequences associated with workplace assault. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of emergency nurses using the Ecological Occupational Health Model of Workplace Assault. ⋯ Workplace assault in the ED setting is associated with consequences of workplace assault to patients and visitors as well as negative effects to emergency nurses, the workplace, and patient care. Emergency nurses need to seek and also offer emotional support after workplace assault. Providing support could serve as a deterrent to retaliation while minimizing potential adverse impacts to nurses' psychological health and work productivity.
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Occupational violence in emergency departments is prevalent and detrimental to staff and health services. There is an urgent call for solutions; accordingly, this study describes the implementation and early impacts of the digital Queensland Occupational Violence Patient Risk Assessment Tool (kwov-pro). ⋯ Using a combination of strategies, the Queensland Occupational Violence Patient Risk Assessment Tool was successfully implemented in the emergency department with the indication that it could reduce the number of incidents of occupational violence. The work herein provides a foundation for future translation and robust evaluation of the Queensland Occupational Violence Patient Risk Assessment Tool in emergency departments.