Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T00:16:14.089Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Violent Incidents in a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Zuzana Walker  and
Ruth Seifert
Zuzana Walker*
Affiliation:
University College London and Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow
Ruth Seifert
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, St Bartholomew's Hospital, 61 Bartholomew's Close, London EC1A 7BE
*
∗Princess Alexandra Hospital, Hamstel Road, Harlow, Essex CM20 1QX
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A prospective study was undertaken of physical assaults over six months in a newly opened psychiatric intensive care unit. There were 58 admissions of 48 patients, and 37 assaults, three against other patients, and 34 against nursing and medical staff. Features which correlated with committing assault were a criminal record and previous drug abuse. Assaults occurred most frequently during the week, at times when staff were actively involved with the patients.

Type
Short papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 164 , Issue 6 , June 1994 , pp. 826 - 828
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM–III). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Fottrell, E. (1980) A study of violent behaviour among patients in psychiatric hospital. British Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 216–221.Google Scholar
Hocking, M. A. (1989) Assaults in south east London. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 82, 281–284.Google Scholar
James, D. V., Fineberg, N. A., Shah, A. K., et al (1990) An increase in violence on an acute psychiatric ward. A study of associated factors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 846–852.Google Scholar
Karson, C. & Bigelow, L. B. (1987) Violent behaviour in schizophrenic inpatients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175, 161–164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krakowski, M. I., Convit, A., Jaeger, J., et al (1989) Inpatient violence: trait and state. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 23, 57–64.Google Scholar
Larkin, E., Murtagh, S. & Jones, S. (1988) A preliminary study of violent incidents in a special hospital (Rampton). British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 226–231.Google Scholar
Nobel, P. & Rodger, S. (1989) Violence by psychiatric in-patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 384–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmstierna, T. & Wistedt, B. (1989) Risk factors for aggressive behaviour are of limited value in predicting the violent behaviour of acute involuntarily admitted patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 81, 152–155.Google Scholar
Pearson, M., Wilmot, E. & Padi, M. (1986) A study of violent behaviour among inpatients in a psychiatric hospital. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 232–235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tardiff, K. & Sweillam, A. (1982) Assaultive behaviour among chronic inpatients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 212–215.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.