Violence risk assessment and treatment

Each year, psychiatric patients physically injure nearly 1 in 4 psychiatric nurses.1,2 The damage done from these injuries is not limited to the physical and emotional harm caused to the individual mental health provider. Quite the contrary—poorly managed aggression committed by psychiatric patients results in a treating environment characterized by fear and anxiety for both providers and patients, a decreased ability to provide effective care, and a draining of limited financial resources to address the medical and legal consequences of patients’ violent behavior. [...]Stahl et al provide comprehensive guidelines for the assessment and treatment of violence.