The manual handling of the aggressive patient: a review of the risk of injury to nurses.
Staff are injured more frequently than patients during the implementation of physical interventions. In essence the application of physical interventions is a form of manual handling, where the aggressive patient is the 'load'. In the non-mental healthcare environment, manual handling contributes to a large chunk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Applying physical interventions against an agitated and aggressive human load is a risk factor for injuries being sustained. This paper discusses physical interventions as a manual handling procedure as a possible explanation of injuries sustained to nursing staff from being in a team applying physical interventions. Possible strategies to reduce the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders from physical interventions are discussed.
Stubbs
B
B
St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton, UK. bstubbs@standrew.co.uk
D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000379:methods; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D012307:Risk Factors; D017132:Workplace; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*