A survey of patients' aggression perceived by psychiatric nurses

Objective To investigate patients' aggressive behaviors perceived by psychiatric nurses and analyze the related factors. Methods A total of 184 nurses were recruited from a psychiatric hospital in Beijing. They were investigated with the Perception of the Prevalence of Aggression Scale composed of 16 items and two questions related to patients' aggression. Results Verbal aggression and mild physical violence were experienced by most of the psychiatric nurses during the past one year. Nurses with different characteristic have diverse perception (P 0.05). Multiple liner regression revealed that sex, professional titles and training were related to the perception of aggression,which explained for 13.9% variance. Conclusion Mild violence is prevalence in psychiatric setting. Male nurses and the intermediate grade nurses are at most risk. Nurses participated in training program perceived less aggression than other nurses. It is suggested to pay attention to nurses' physical and mental health,and provide training program to assist nurses to identify,prevent and manage patients' aggression effectively.