Violent Behavior among hospitalized medical and surgical patients

To characterize violent behavior in hospitalized medical and surgical patients, we reviewed documented violent incidents at the San Francisco General Hospital during a two-year period. Twenty-nine incidents of verbal and physical violence occurred. One patient was gravely ill and three were delirious. All the incidents were associated with increased levels of tension and loss of impulse control. In most cases, contention with the staff regarding pain medication or ward regulations was a precipitating event. Of the 28 patients with mental disorders, 19 were substance abusers, six had organic brain syndrome, tw had neurosis, and one had schizophrenia. The findings suggest that physicians should be more sensitive to patient characteristics and to the situational characteristics of the violent incident. Explicit measures that anticipate and reduce violent behavior are reviewed.