title: Responding to inpatient violence at a psychiatric hospital of special security: a pilot project.
abstract: Within secure psychiatric hospitals, staff have to manage many difficult and challenging situations. Crichton (1997) suggested that when staff perceive a greater degree of responsibility on patients for their actions there is a particularly morally censorious response. The aim of this pilot study was to discover if this association, discovered using a hypothetical scenario, was also present in how nursing staff respond to real violent patient behaviour. Over a five week period all episodes of inter-personal violence in a hospital with special security were identified and those involved interviewed. Thirty-one episodes of inter-personal violence were identified. A disproportionate number were caused by female patients and patients detained under civil sections of mental health legislation. A personality disorder diagnosis and the staff belief that mental disorder did not reduce the individual patient's blame for the incident were associated with the response of a restrictive sanction (both cases p < 0.01).
authors.affiliation: The Orchard Clinic, Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
authors.forename: John H M
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Crichton
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Calgie
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D009014:Morals; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D012637:Security Measures; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control*