Patient Safety Alert 25: Patient & Visitor De-escalation (PDF)
Due to the unpredictable nature and potentially serious outcomes related to workplace violence events, hospitals are now working to develop more comprehensive security protocols and training programs. These include strategies to reduce the likelihood of verbal and physical escalation resulting in violence, especially from patients and visitors. In response to these efforts, the AMC PSO convened a panel of safety leaders to review recent trends and discuss novel interventions to mitigate the risk for this type of adverse event.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
Mandatory training on verbal and physical de-escalation should be required of all employees, starting with those in high-risk areas (ED, Psychiatry, etc.)
Library of All AMC PSO Patient Safety Alerts
For even more patient safety alert material, please review our series of AMC PSO Patient Safety Alerts to understand the variety of topics covered by our members. AMC PSO makes patient safety learnings available to the public as part of CRICO’s ongoing commitment towards improving patient safety across the continuum of care.
