The purpose of the paper is to provide a summary and reflection of the article on nursing safety.

Patient violence in acute care psychiatry setting is a major concern for registered nurses. The key points to be discussed include the impact of patient violence on the outcomes of the organization and nurses. Additionally, the paper will discuss the different strategies used by nurses to prevent and handle patient violence as well as to maintain their personal safety.

Nursing Safety

According to Stevenson, Jack, Omara and LeGris (2015), Registered nurses are at increased risk of experiencing violence from patients and families in the workplace. The study has shown nurses have reported being victims of violence, which affects their ability to effectively deliver medical services and quality care to patients in psychiatric settings. It is evident that exposure to violence has an adverse impact on the nurse's outcomes as well as that of the organization. For instance, it can have a psychological and emotional effect on nurses. Examples of the physical impact that nurses may experience include disability, which can either be temporary or permanent as well as injuries. The psychological consequences may include decreased job satisfaction, anxiety, anger, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The negative outcomes of patient violence on the organization include decreased morale, high staff turnover rates, increased medical errors, increased costs associated with disability leave, nurse absenteeism, hostile work environments, and reduces the quality of patient care.

In this research study, Stevenson et al. (2015) indicate that nurses use various strategies to manage patient violence. These strategies include the use of a team approach and nurse-centered approaches that are focused towards maintaining personal safety, controlling the situation, and preventing any further cases of violence. However, nurses have reported these strategies to be ineffective to address the current issues and thus provided a suggestion of more appropriate methods of preventing and managing patient violence. These include creating a supportive work environment by the management, debriefing after an incident has occurred, and improving education to enhance nurse’s knowledge on how to effectively deal with patient violence and enhance nursing safety. It also entails the establishment of the best practice guidelines to minimize patient violence and to eliminate the obstacles to reporting experiences of violence.

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Since I started my nursing profession back in 2005, I have had some personal and professional experiences regarding patient violence. I have become increasingly aware of patient violence over time and has had a negative impact on my ability to effectively carry out y nursing role in psychiatric settings. One example of patient violence I experienced include an incident with a family member who was admitting a patient in the psychiatric ward. The admission process as still underway but the family member insisted on taking the patient to the ward. When I asked him to wait, he started yelling and cursing in front of patients and other staff. Another example of patient violence I experienced occurred when I was physically attacked by a patient when administering drugs to him. The patient did not like taking medication, and the moment he saw me approaching, he attacked me by beating me up. Fortunately, I was rescued by other male nursing practitioners. This incident left me with significant injuries on my face. Moreover, another example occurred when I was redirecting a particular patient with cognitive impairment. I had directed him several times but seems not to be understanding. Therefore, I told him to pay attention while giving him instructions. The patient felt that I was rude towards him and thus he became violent. I felt terrified and afraid and left the scene immediately (Stevenson et al., 2015).

Conclusion

Nursing safety is an essential aspect of the nursing profession and the work environment. However, it is being compromised by patient violence that has a significant effect on nurses and organizational outcomes. Various strategies such as the creation of a supportive environment have been suggested as an appropriate measure to tackle patient violence. Therefore, it is essential to understand nurses’ experiences of patient violence to establish interventions that would adequately address the problem.