A survey of staff attitudes and responses to people with dementia who are aggressive in residential care settings

Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

Volumn 18, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 97-104

  Pulsford, D ^a   Duxbury, J A ^a   Hadi, M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Aggression; Dementia care; Interpersonal skills; Quantitative methodology

Indexed keywords

AGGRESSION; ARTICLE; DEMENTIA; EXERCISE; FEMALE; HEALTH PERSONNEL ATTITUDE; HEALTH SURVEY; HUMAN; MALE; NURSING; NURSING STAFF; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; QUESTIONNAIRE; RESIDENTIAL HOME; STATISTICS; UNITED KINGDOM;

AGGRESSION; ATTITUDE OF HEALTH PERSONNEL; DEMENTIA; FEMALE; GREAT BRITAIN; HUMANS; MALE; NURSING STAFF; POPULATION SURVEILLANCE; QUESTIONNAIRES; RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES; RESTRAINT, PHYSICAL;

EID: 79551618955     PISSN: 13510126     EISSN: 13652850     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2010.01646.x     Document Type: Article

References (28)

1. All Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia (2008) Always a last resort - Inquiry into the prescription of antipsychotic drugs to people with dementia living in care homes. Available at: (accessed 4 October 2010).
2. Almvik R., Rasmussen K. & Woods P. (2006) Challenging behaviour in the elderly - monitoring violent incidents. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 21, 368-374.
3. Alzheimer's Society (2009) Statistics. Available at: (accessed 4 October 2010).
4. Astrom S., Karlsson S., Bucht G., etal. (2004) Staff's experience of and the management of violent incidents in elderly care. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 18, 410-416.
5. Ballard C., O'Brien J., James I., etal. (2001) Dementia: Management of Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
6. Commission for Health Improvement (2000) Investigation into the North Lakeland NHS Trust. Available at: (accessed 2 September 2009).
7. Department of Health (2008) Guidance on Nominating A Consultee for Research Involving Adults Who Lack Capacity to Consent. DH, London.
8. Dettmore D., Kolanowski A. & Boustani M. (2009) Aggression in persons with dementia: use of nursing theory to guide clinical practice. Geriatric Nursing 30, 8-17.
9. Duxbury J. (2002) An evaluation of staff and patient views of and strategies employed to manage inpatient aggression and violence on one mental health unit: a pluralistic design. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 9, 325-337.
10. Duxbury J. (2003) Testing a new tool: The Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale (MAVAS). Nurse Researcher 10, 39-52.
11. Duxbury J. & Whittington R. (2005) Causes and management of patient aggression and violence: staff and patient perspectives. Journal of Advanced Nursing 50, 469-478.
12. Duxbury J., Hahn S., Needham I., etal. (2008) The Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale (MAVAS): a cross-national comparative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 62, 596-606.
13. Foley K., Sudha S., Sloane P., etal. (2003) Staff perceptions of successful management of severe behavioural problems in dementia special care units. Dementia 2, 105-124.
14. Hahn S., Needham I., Abderhalden C., etal. (2006) The effect of a training course on mental health nurses' attitudes on the reasons for patient aggression and its management. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 13, 197-204.
15. Howe T. (1995) Measurement scales in healthcare settings. Nurse Researcher 2, 30-37.
16. Jansen G., Middel B. & Dassen T. (2005) An international comparative study on the reliability and validity of the Attitudes Towards Aggression Scale (ATAS). International Journal of Nursing Studies 42, 467-477.
17. Kitwood T. (1997) Dementia Reconsidered. Open University Press, Buckingham.
18. MacDonald C. (2007) Care assistants' views and experience of "challenging behaviour" in dementia. Journal of Dementia Care 14, 33-38.
19. Manderson D. & Schofield V. (2005) How caregivers respond to aged-care residents' aggressive behaviour. Kai Tiaki New Zealand, August, 18-19.
20. Nakahira M., Moyle W., Creedy D., etal. (2008) Attitudes towards dementia-related aggression among staff in Japanese aged care settings. Journal of Clinical Nursing 18, 807-816.
21. National Institute of Clinical Excellence (2006) Dementia: supporting people with dementia and their carers in health and social care. Available at: (accessed 4 October 2010).
22. Nijman H., Muris P. & Merckelbach H. (1999) The Staff Observation Aggression Scale - Revised SOAS-R. Aggressive Behaviour 25, 197-209.
23. Pulsford D. & Duxbury J. (2006) Aggressive behaviour by people with dementia: a review. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 13, 611-618.
24. Rodney V. (2000) Nurse stress associated with aggression in people with dementia: its relationship to hardiness, cognitive appraisal and coping. Journal of Advanced Nursing 31, 172-180.
25. Rosen T., Lachs M., Bharchura A., etal. (2008) Resident-to-resident aggression in long-term care facilities: Insights from focus groups of nursing home residents and staff. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 56, 1398-1408.
26. Stokes G. (2000) Challenging Behaviour in Dementia. Speechmark Publications, London.
27. Stokes G. & Goudie F., eds (2002) The Essential Dementia Care Handbook. Speechmark Publications, London.
28. Whall A., Colling K., Kolanowski A., etal. (2008) Factors associated with aggressive behaviour among nursing home residents with dementia. The Gerontologist 48, 721-731.