Evaluation of training designed to prevent and manage patient violence

This study was designed to determine whether the test responses of mental health care workers (n = 118) showed significant improvement after attending a training session about managing violence. Four variables (knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and behavioral intention) were measured before and after staff attended a training program that consisted of two commercial programs: the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (CPI) and Handle with Care. The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention is designed to teach staff how to prevent and control disruptive behavior of clients. "Handle with Care" is a combination of lecture and demonstration of self-defense skills and restraining methods for staff who work with potentially assaultive patients. The research team used a one group, pretest/posttest study design for the evaluation. The study location was an acute care psychiatric hospital located in the southwestern United States. Hospital staff completed a pretest, participated in a 12-hour intervention, and completed a posttest immediately after the intervention. The evaluation of staff responses demonstrated improvements in posttest scores that were significant for knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and behavioral intention to use the training techniques. More research is needed regarding evaluation of programs that train mental health care workers to prevent and manage patient violence. Such research can help us develop more effective programs.