De-Escalating Violence in Healthcare

Book excerpt: "This book is a comprehensive guidebook of therapeutic de-escalation techniques for nurses and other healthcare professionals to improve safety in healthcare facilities. Readers will explore the concepts of aggression (including risk factors), de-escalation, and therapeutic communication. They will also learn how to perform mental status assessments, manage and even prevent aggressive behavior, and practice conflict resolution, and--when faced with individuals with depressive disorders, suicidal ideation, and/or self-injurious behavior (SIB)--engage in crisis intervention. Specific therapeutic interventions for difficult behavioral issues associated with schizophrenia, dementia, bipolar disorder, cognitive impairment, anxiety and panic disorders are also covered, as are stress-management techniques to help patients cope, tips for creating a caring and healing environment to stop violence before it starts, and a framework for building a healthcare violence prevention program. Nursing students and healthcare professionals of all educational levels will find this book to be immensely valuable. De-escalation is one of the most valuable skills a healthcare worker can possess. Indeed, all healthcare workers need this vital skill to help ensure their safety in the healthcare environment. It's not uncommon for healthcare professionals to encounter an agitated or aggressive person. How that healthcare worker responds will dictate whether the situation is defused or escalated--perhaps even resulting in physical violence. The goal of this book is to ensure the result is the former--to prevent healthcare violence, and to foster a safe healthcare workplace that benefits all and promotes peace and safety for everyone"--