Citation

Heckemann B, Zeller A, Hahn S, Dassen TWN, Schols JM, Halfens RJ. Nurse Educ. Today 2014; 35(1): 212-219.

Affiliation

Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Caphri-School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, Duboisdomein 30, 6229 GT Maastricht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.halfens@maastrichtuniversity.nl.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.nedt.2014.08.003

PMID

25200511

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patient aggression is a longstanding problem in general hospital nursing. Staff training is recommended to tackle workplace aggression originating from patients or visitors, yet evidence on training effects is scarce. AIMS: To review and collate current research evidence on the effect of aggression management training for nurses and nursing students working in general hospitals, and to derive recommendations for further research.

DESIGN: Systematic, narrative review. DATA SOURCES: Embase, MEDLINE, the Cochrane library, CINAHL, PsycINFO, pubmed, psycArticles, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection were searched for articles evaluating training programs for staff and students in acute hospital adult nursing in a 'before/after' design. Studies published between January 2000 and September 2011 in English, French or German were eligible of inclusion. REVIEW METHODS: The methodological quality of included studies was assessed with the 'Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies'. Main outcomes i.e. attitudes, confidence, skills and knowledge were collated.

RESULTS: Nine studies were included. Two had a weak, six a moderate, and one a strong study design. All studies reported increased confidence, improved attitude, skills, and knowledge about risk factors post training. There was no significant change in incidence of patient aggression.

CONCLUSION: Our findings corroborate findings of reviews on training in mental health care, which point to a lack of high quality research. Training does not reduce the incidence of aggressive acts. Aggression needs to be tackled at an organizational level.

Language: en