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Aggression on psychiatric inpatient units for older adults and adults of working age
Author(s) -
Chaplin Robert,
McGeorge Maureen,
Hinchcliffe Graham,
Shinkwin Leanne
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.1975
Subject(s) - unit (ring theory) , aggression , medicine , psychology , psychiatry , library science , gerontology , mathematics education , computer science
Staff and patients on acute psychiatric wards report high rates of exposure to violence (Chaplin et al., 2006). Aggressive behaviour by older people with mental illness is associated with dementia, frequently directed at staff providing personal care and other patients, and does not generally result in severe injury. The National Audit of Violence (Healthcare Commission, 2005) revealed comparable rates of staff and patients experiencing aggression on older adult (OA) wards and wards for adults of working age (WAA wards). This study aims to compare numbers of staff and patients experiencing physical assault on OA wards with those working on WAA wards and document the severity of aggression against nursing staff working on OA wards.