Hostile Words and Assaultive Behavior on an Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Unit

Morale is high in acute inpatient psychiatry

“…It would therefore appear that the patient behaviour that really saps staff morale is verbal abuse. Verbal abuse has been little studied [31,32], and there may be scope for interventions with staff that protect them from this negative impact, or for the introduction of policies on the wards that reduce the prevalence of verbal abuse. Literature from general healthcare settings has demonstrated an association between verbal abuse and decreasing morale, job satisfaction, increased psychological distress and intention to leave [33].…”

Psychiatric Intensive Care Units: a Literature Review

“…The preponderance of UK studies show that the majority of patients in receipt of PICU care are legally detained, although the proportions are strikingly variable with a low of 26% (Mounsey 1979), most with 50-70% (Basson & Woodside 1981;Mitchell 1992;Musisi, Wasylenki, & Rapp 1989;Pereira, Beer, & Paton 1999) and a few with 80-100% (Smith 1997;Werner, Yesagave, Becker, Brunsting, & Issacs 1983). Studies from other countries, although more variable, still show the majority of patients overall to be formally detained.…”

Violent Behavior in Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Facilities

“…Of the various clinical variables studied to date, strong correlates of aggressive behavior have been found to be: severe psychopathology and diagnosis of schizophrenia or personality disorder (Tardiff et al, 1997;Arango et al, 1999;Krakowski and Czobor, 2004;Solinam and Reza, 2001;Carr et al, 2008;Ehmann et al, 2001), comorbid substance abuse (Swartz et al, 1998;Soliman and Reza, 2001;Serper et al, 2005), history of violent behavior (Werner et al, 1983;Arango et al, 1999;Waldheter et al, 2005), and compulsory admission (Soliman and Reza, 2001;Serper et al, 2005;Raja and Azzoni, 2005).…”