Staff gender ratio and aggression in a forensic psychiatric hospital

International Journal of Mental Health Nursing

Volumn 15, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 93-99

  Daffern, Michael ^a,b   Mayer, Maggie ^a   Martin, Trish ^a,c,d  

^a VICTORIAN INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH   (Australia)

^b MONASH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^c UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE   (Australia)

^d Thomas Embling Hospital   (Australia)

Author keywords

Forensic; Functional analysis; Gender; Inpatient aggression; Psychiatry

Indexed keywords

ACUTE DISEASE; AGGRESSION; ARTICLE; AUSTRALIA; CLINICAL COMPETENCE; EXERCISE; FEMALE; FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY; HEALTH PERSONNEL ATTITUDE; HUMAN; MALE; MALE NURSE; MANPOWER; MENTAL DISEASE; MENTAL HOSPITAL; NURSE PATIENT RELATIONSHIP; NURSING; NURSING ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH; NURSING STAFF; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; PATIENT CARE; PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT; PRISONER; PSYCHIATRIC NURSING; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; RISK FACTOR; RISK MANAGEMENT; SELF CONCEPT; SEX DIFFERENCE;

ACUTE DISEASE; AGGRESSION; ATTITUDE OF HEALTH PERSONNEL; CLINICAL COMPETENCE; FEMALE; FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY; HOSPITALS, PSYCHIATRIC; HUMANS; MALE; MENTAL DISORDERS; NURSE-PATIENT RELATIONS; NURSES, MALE; NURSING ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH; NURSING STAFF, HOSPITAL; PATIENT ISOLATION; PERSONNEL STAFFING AND SCHEDULING; PRISONERS; PSYCHIATRIC NURSING; RESTRAINT, PHYSICAL; RISK FACTORS; RISK MANAGEMENT; SELF EFFICACY; SEX FACTORS; VICTORIA;

EID: 33646238956     PISSN: 14458330     EISSN: 14470349     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1447-0349.2006.00408.x     Document Type: Article

References (37)

1. Arnetz JE. Arnetz BB. 2000 Implementation and evaluation of a practical intervention programme for dealing with violence towards health care workers Journal of Advanced Nursing 31 668 680
2. Barlow K. Grenyer B. Ilkiw-Lavalle O. 2000 Prevalence and precipitants of aggression in psychiatric inpatient units Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 34 967 974
3. Beauford JE. McNiel DE. Binder RL. 1997 Utility of the initial therapeutic alliance in evaluating psychiatric patients' risk of violence American Journal of Psychiatry 154 1272 1276
4. Blair T. 1991 Assaultive behaviour: Does provocation begin in the front office? Journal of Psychosocial Nursing 29 21 26
5. Carmel H. Hunter M. 1989 Staff injuries from inpatient violence Hospital and Community Psychiatry 40 41 46
6. Cheung P. Schweitzer I. Tuckwell V. Crowley KC. 1996 A prospective study of aggression among psychiatric patients in rehabilitation wards Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 30 257 262
7. Convertino K. Pinto RP. Fiester AP. 1980 Use of seclusion at a community mental health centre Hospital and Community Psychiatry 31 12 848 850
8. Crichton J. 1997 The response of nursing staff to psychiatric inpatient misdemeanour Journal of Forensic Psychiatry 8 36 61
9. Daffern M. Howells K. 2002 Psychiatric inpatient aggression: A review of structural and functional assessment approaches Aggression and Violent Behavior 7 477 497
10. Daffern M. Mayer M. Martin T. 2003 A preliminary investigation into patterns of aggression in an Australian forensic psychiatric hospital Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology 14 67 84
11. Daffern M. Mayer M. Martin T. 2004 Environment contributors to aggression in two forensic psychiatric hospitals International Journal of Forensic Mental Health 3 105 114
12. Department of Education, Science and Training. 2005 ). [Cited 1 June 2005]. Available from:
13. Depp FC. 1976 Violent behaviour patterns on psychiatric wards Aggressive Behaviour 2 295 306
14. Grassi L. Peron L. Marangoni C. Pierluigi Z. Adello V. 2001 Characteristics of violent behaviour in acute psychiatric in-patients: A 5-year Italian study Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 104 273 279
15. James DV. Fineberg NA. Shah AK. Priest RG. 1990 An increase in violence on an acute psychiatric ward: A study of associated factors British Journal of Psychiatry 156 846 852
16. Kirkpatrick H. 1989 A descriptive study of seclusion: The unit environment, patient behavior, and nursing interventions Archives of Psychiatric Nursing 3 1 3 9
17. Krakowski M. Czobor P. 2004 Gender differences in violent behaviours: Relationship to clinical symptoms and psychosocial factors American Journal of Psychiatry 161 459 465
18. Lee S. Wright S. Sayer J. Parr A. Gray R. Gournay K. 2001 Physical restraint training for nurses in English and Welsh psychiatric intensive care and regional secure units Journal of Mental Health 10 151 162
19. McGowan S. Wynaden D. Harding N. Yassine A. Parker J. 1999 Staff confidence in dealing with aggressive patients: A benchmarking exercise Australian and New Zealand Journal of Mental Health Nursing 8 104 108
20. Morrison EF. 1998 The culture of caregiving and aggression in psychiatric settings Archives of Psychiatric Nursing Xii 21 31
21. Morrison EF. Carney Love C. 2003 An evaluation of four programs for the management of aggression in psychiatric settings Archives of Psychiatric Nursing XVII 146 155
22. Morrison P. Lehane M. 1995 Staffing levels and seclusion use Journal of Advanced Nursing 22 1193 1202
23. Paterson B. McCornish AG. Bradley P. 1999 Violence at work Nursing Standard 13 43 46
24. Ray CL. Subich LM. 1998 Staff assaults and injuries in a psychiatric hospital as a function of three attitudinal variables Issues in Mental Health Nursing 19 277 289
25. Ryan J Poster E. 1989 The assaulted nurse: Short-term and long-term responses Archives of Psychiatric Nursing 3 6 323 331
26. Shepherd M. Lavender T. 1999 Putting aggression into context: An investigation into contextual factors influencing the rate of aggressive incidents in a psychiatric hospital Journal of Mental Health 8 159 170
27. Sheridan M. Herion R. Robinson L. Baxter V. 1990 Precipitants of violence in a psychiatric inpatient setting Hospital and Community Psychiatry 41 776 780
28. Silver JM. Yudofsky SC. 1987 Documentation of aggression in the assessment of the violent patient Psychiatric Annals 17 375 384
29. Southcott J. Howard A. Collins E. 2002 Control and restraint training in acute mental health care Nursing Standard 16 33 36
30. Terpstra TL. Terpstra TL. Pettee EJ. Hunter M. 2001 Nursing staff's attitudes toward seclusions & restraint Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services 39 20 28 50 51
31. Tunde-Ayinmode M. Little J. 2004 Use of seclusion in a psychiatric acute inpatient unit Australasian Psychiatry 12 347 351
32. Turnbull J. 1999 Violence to staff: Who is at risk? In Turnbull J. Paterson B. (Eds) Aggression and Violence: Approaches to Effective Management ( 8 30 London Macmillan
33. Vanderslott J. 1998 A study of violence towards staff by patients in an NHS Trust hospital Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 5 291 298
34. Victorian Department of Human Services. 2004 ). Nurses in Victoria: A Supply and Demand Analysis.[Cited 1 June 2005]. Available from:
35. Whittington R. Wykes T. 1994 Violence in psychiatric hospitals: Are certain staff prone to being assaulted? Journal of Advanced Nursing 19 219 225
36. Whittington R. Wykes T. 1996 Aversive stimulation by staff and violence by psychiatric patients British Journal of Clinical Psychology 35 11 20
37. Wynn R. 2003 Staff's choice of formal and informal coercive interventions in psychiatric emergencies International Journal of Forensic Mental Health 2 157 164