Ways to increase nurse confidence in coping with workplace violence explored

Implementing a screening instrument that can correctly identify patients at risk for violent behavior appears to influence nurse confidence in coping with workplace violence, a study found. The authors ─ who include AONL member Sheryl Emmerling, PhD, RN, director of clinical practice and research at OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Ill. ─ published their exploratory study in the March issue of the Journal of Nursing Administration. They found nurse confidence decreased the longer time passed after training, suggesting the time between educational sessions could have a greater impact than the type of education provided in influencing nurse confidence in coping with workplace violence. Similar to other studies, nurses rarely reported incidents of workplace violence. The authors surveyed nearly 830 nurses at OSF HealthCare.