Citation

Cowin L, Davies R, Estall G, Berlin T, Fitzgerald M, Hoot S. Int. J. Ment. Health Nurs. 2003; 12(1): 64-73.

Affiliation

Faculty of Nursing, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. meow@ar.com.au

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc., Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

14685961

Abstract

Aggressive and violent incidents in the health-care setting are increasing phenomena around the world. The evidence from current literature suggests that changes in health-care access, nursing staff shortages and patient acuity are some of the possible causes. De-escalation is a valuable intervention that can be used by nurses to help counter the growing problems of aggression and violence. The de-escalation project, discussed in the present paper, aimed to explore de-escalation as an important therapeutic process and is an event of considerable potential in the management of aggression and violence. While de-escalation is not a new tool, particularly in the mental health-care setting, an educative programme aimed at renewing nurses' knowledge and skills in de-escalation is a timely project. The final de-escalation kit included a large glossy poster, a nursing staff survey, an in-service education session and a literature-based discussion paper. The de-escalation kit can be of considerable benefit to those nurses who are transient within the workplace, such as casual and agency nurses.

Language: en