[Aggresive acts of psychiatric inpatients as reported by nursing staff. A retrospective study]

Method. Questionnaire method with reconstruction of the serious incidents by interview and documents. Results. 253 members of staff remembered 626 aggressive acts which happened to them in the course of a year. Slight acts were caused more often by women than by men, and were directed more frequently against the junior than the senior staff - contrasting in both points with the serious acts. One in every four qualified nurses over the age of 50 shows today a verifiable physical defect resulting from an aggressive act by a patient at one time or another. The clinical-psychological and therapeutic background and consequences of aggressive incidences are briefly presented.