Reducing aggressive behaviour and staff injuries: a multi-strategy approach.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a multi-strategy approach on the management of patient aggression and staff injury rates at a stand-alone mental health facility.
METHODS: A multi-strategy aggression management program was developed and introduced over a 2-year period. The program had four components; staff education/training, a staff support program, risk assessment tools, and a computerised incident monitoring system. Aggressive incidents by patients, staff injuries due to patient aggression and compensation payments to staff for the 2-year period before implementation of the aggression management program were compared with the 3-year period following implementation of the program.
RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in the number of staff injuries reported in the 3-year period following the implementation of the aggression management program. Although the number of aggressive incidents reported did decrease over the study period, the decrease was not statistically significant.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite the increasing acuity of the clients at the study facility, there was a significant decrease in staff injuries due to aggressive behaviour. The strategies implemented seem to offset the potential for violence. It is likely that the combined impact of the strategies is greater than the impact of individual strategies implemented consecutively.