Cross-cultural differences in psychiatric nurses' attitudes to inpatient aggression.
Little is currently known about the attitudes of psychiatric nurses toward patient aggression, particularly from an international perspective. Attitudes toward patient aggression of psychiatric nurses from five European countries were investigated using a recently developed and tested attitude scale. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 1,769 student nurses and psychiatric nurses. Regression analysis was performed to identify personal and occupational characteristics of the respondents able to predict their attitude toward aggression. Analysis of variance was used to identify significant differences in attitudes between and among countries. Attitude was predicted by sex, contractual status (full vs. part time), and the type of ward on which subjects worked. With one exception (communicative attitude), attitudes differed across countries. More research on attitude formation is needed to determine which factors account for these differences.
Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. g.jansen@med.umcg.nl
Gerard J
GJ
Jansen
Berry
B
Middel
Theo W N
TW
Dassen
Menno S A
MS
Reijneveld
D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000451:nursing* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009426:Netherlands; D009664:Norway; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D006113:United Kingdom