Workplace assault management training: an outcome evaluation

In this comprehensive study of health workers taking care of patients who are prone to challenging and aggressive behavior, injury rates for workers who had received PART (Professional Assault Response Training) as recommended by OSHA and other agencies were compared with those who received no training. Surprisingly, those with training had a higher number of reported injuries and a per capita worker's compensation payout double that received by those without training. The possible reasons for these results are analyzed, along with their implications for those responsible for supporting healthcare workers at risk for violence. The author concludes that training in itself may not be an adequate prevention strategy, but may need to be implemented by other approaches.