Background: Inpatient aggression can occur for many reasons and there are many factors that contribute to this
occurrence such as patient factors, staff factors and environmental factors. There are strategies to prevent and
manage aggression. Aims: The aims of this study are to explore nurse's practices and attitudes of inpatient
psychiatric aggression to identify the way the nurses handle aggression by patients and exploring the effects of
patients, staff and environmental factors on the occurrence of aggression. Participants and methods: The study
was conducted at a Mental Health Hospital in Palestine. All nursing staff in the mental health hospital who had
worked for at least one year at the time of the study was recruited (67 nurses). The participants ranged in age
from 20-50 years with a mean age of (35.1) (±SD = ±7.8) and included 30 females and 37 males. A
questionnaire was used which has three scales: Attitude Toward Aggression Scale (ATAS), Management Of
Aggression and Violence Scale (MAVAS) and Demographic Scale.Results: Nurses were inclined to perceive
patient aggression as destructive, violent, intrusive and functional reactions. They were less inclined to view
aggression as protective, communicative or acceptable normal reactions. Female nurses in this study were more
likely to view aggression as having an intrusive role whereas, on the contrary, male nurses were more likely to
view aggression as having a communicative role and they believed that the aggression could be managed in
general. Longer professional experience was significantly associated with a higher frequency of the management
of aggression in general. Nurses from the admission ward (male and female) were in less agreement with the
Protective and Communicative Attitudes scales than the nurses from the other inpatient wards. On the other hand,
nurses from admission ward (particularly female) and recovery ward (male and female) had a higher rate of
violent and offensive reaction to aggression than nurses from the other wards. The nurses from the chronic
female ward had a higher intrusive scale than nurses from the other wards. The highest level of the scientific
grade group is a Master of Mental Health with a high level mean regarding the attitudes to the acceptable normal
reaction scale, violent reaction scale, functional reaction scale, offensive scale, communicative scale, destructive
scale, external causative factors scale, situational/interactional causative factors scale, Management: general, and
Management: use of medication. The nurses agree that there are internal, external and interactional factors to
inpatient aggression. Nurses believe that patients may be aggressive because of the environment of the
psychiatric hospital. Nurses believe that aggression develops because staff does not listen to the patients, there is
poor interaction between staff and patients and other people make patients aggressive. Nurses believe in the use
of medications, restraint and seclusion widely, on the contrary, they believe in the use of non-physical methods
like negotiation and expression of anger. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that there are different attitudes
of nurses toward patient aggression in psychiatric inpatient settings. This study found that aggression is
negatively viewed by Palestinian psychiatric nurses. These attitudes are reflective of the opinions of lay persons
in our society. There is a need for training programs to reorient the opinions of nurses in relation to inpatient
aggression. These programs should contribute to improved patient care and reduction in the frequency of
aggressive acts within inpatient units.
Keywords: Aggression; mental health, nurses; ATAS; MAVAS.

Title

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences

Publisher

The International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE)

Publisher Country

United States of America

Publication Type

Prtinted only

Volume

--

Year

--

Pages

--