title: Use of a violence risk assessment tool in an acute care hospital: effectiveness in identifying violent patients.
abstract: This study examined the use and effectiveness of the Alert assessment form. The form is part of the Alert system, used by one large acute care hospital to identify patients with a propensity for violence. All reported incidents of patient violence from August 1, 2003, through December 31, 2004, were included in patient charts. One hundred seventeen violent patient charts were reviewed and compared with 161 non-violent patient charts, randomly chosen from the same time period. Overall use of the Alert assessment form for violent and non-violent patients was 75.7% and 35.4%, respectively. The assessment form was found to have moderate sensitivity (71%) and high specificity (94%). It is reasonably effective in identifying potentially violent or aggressive patients when it is used according to protocol. Efforts to improve the tool are warranted, as is evaluation of its benefit in settings with low prevalence of violence. Also, greater effort must be taken to prevent violence once an aggressive patient has been identified.
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, University of British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Rakel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kling
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corbière
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Milord
authors.forename: Janet G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Craib
authors.forename: Annalee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yassi
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sidebottom
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kidd
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saunders
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001955:British Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017144:Focus Groups; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009785:Occupational Health Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D012308:Risk Management; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data