Citation

Dean AJ, Gibbon P, McDermott BM, Davidson T, Scott J. Arch. Psychiatr. Nurs. 2010; 24(1): 15-26.

Affiliation

Kids in Mind Research, Mater Child and Youth Mental Health Service, South Brisbane QLD, Australia. angela.dean@mater.org.au

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.apnu.2009.01.002

PMID

20117685

Abstract

Aggression is common in mental health services, but little research has examined exposure to aggression and its impact on staff in children and adolescent settings. Staff members within a child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit were interviewed to examine exposure to aggression and perceptions about the impact of aggression. Involvement in episodes of physical aggression was common (84.8%, 28/33) and was linked to difficulty attending work and other emotional and professional sequelae. These findings suggest that aggression is an important issue for staff working in child and adolescent settings and that aggression may impair the therapeutic capacity of staff.

Language: en