Staff victims of elder patient abuse and the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP): Preliminary empirical inquiry

Abstract

Patient assaults on healthcare staff are a serious and ongoing issue in long-term care facilities. Emerging studies have begun to empirically document assaults by elders in skilled nursing facilities as well as the negative impact of these events on healthcare staff victims. This study examined assaults by elders and their impact on staff over a six-year period within the context of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP), a crisis intervention program for staff victims to address the psychological aftermath of patient assaults. Findings confirmed both elder assaultive behavior and its negative impacts on staff victims. The efficacy of ASAP in ameliorating these negative impacts was presented. The implications of the findings for longterm care settings were discussed.

Keywords

Alzheimer's disease Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP)crisis intervention patient assailants staff victims

References

Flannery RB Jr : The Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP): Coping with the psychological aftermath of violence. Ellicott City, MD, 1998.

Blair DT : Assaultive behavior: Does provocation begin in the front office? J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv. 1991; 29: 21-26.

Davis S : Violence by psychiatric inpatients: A review. Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1991; 42: 585-590.

Flannery RB Jr , Hanson MA , Penk WE : Risk factors for psychiatric inpatient assaults on staff. J Ment Health Adm. 1994; 21: 24-31.

Meddaugh DI : Staff abuse by the nursing home patient. Clin Gerontologist. 1986; 6: 45-57.

Nagaratnam N , Lewis-Jones M , Scott D , Palazzi L : Behavioral and psychiatric manifestations in dementia patients in a community: Caregiver burden and outcome. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 1998; 12: 330-334.

Paneza GJ , Cohen D , Eisdorfer C , Freels S : Severe family violence and Alzheimer's disease: Prevalence and risk factors. Gerontologist.1992; 32: 493-497.

Baxter E , Hafner RJ , Holme G : Assaults by patients: The experience and attitudes of psychiatric hospital nurses. Aust N Z J Psychiatry.1992; 26: 567-573.

Lanza ML : How nurses react to patient assault. J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv. 1985; 23: 6-11.

10.

Lanza ML : Factors relevant to patient assault. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 1988; 9: 239-257.

11.

McCarthy KM : Stress management in the health care field: A pilot program for staff in a nursing home unit for patients with Alzheimer's disease. Music Therapy Perspectives. 1992; 10: 110-113.

12.

Flannery RB Jr : The Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP): Ten years of empirical support for Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). Int J Emerg Ment Health. 2001, in press.

13.

Lion JR , Snyder W , Merrill GL : Underreporting of assaults on staff in a state hospital. Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1981; 32: 497-498.

14.

Flannery RB Jr : Violence in the workplace. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1995.

15.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration : Guidelines for preventing workplace violence in healthcare and social services workers. Publication #3148, Washington, DC: United States Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.