National directives on managing 'violent' patients: a critique

The incidence and nature of patient aggression and violence in health care has been a neglected area of investigation. However, since the 1980s there has been an increase in the amount of research examining the problem of patients who are aggressive and violent in a multitude of health care settings. A critique of three initiatives highlights the problems associated with aggression and violence in healthcare. They fail, however, to make the distinction between aggression and violence, and as aggression is more common, inappropriate, restrictive care for patients will continue at the expense of developing therapeutic relationships.