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Evaluation of the Manifestation of Patient Aggresivity in an Emergency Department

Completed
Conditions
Emergency Room
Registration Number
NCT02116439
Lead Sponsor
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes
Brief Summary

The main objective of this study is to determine the average total number of violent events per observation period occurring in the emergency department at the Nîmes University Hospital. The list of violent events is pre-determined and based on a series of interviews with emergency department staff.

Detailed Description

This observational study will take place via a representative sample of 90 observation periods. One observation period consists of 7.5 consecutive hours between two team rotations during the day and 10 consecutive hours at night. These observational periods include the moment when health-care teams are debriefed during a shift-change, which we suspect to be a sensitive time point.

Observation periods are randomly selected over a period of 1 year, and stratified for time of day (morning, afternoon, evening), day of the week and month.

The secondary objectives of the observation phase are to identify factors associated with the average number of violent events per work period (number of patients attending the emergency department, time of staff debriefing during shift change, time of day, week or weekend, individual patient characteristics (gender, age, patient or accompanying a patient, waiting time from arrival in the emergency room to emergency consultation, reason for consultation), characteristics of victims of violence, characteristics of the health care team ...)

The anticipated total number of violent events is unknown at the beginning of the study; we indicated '50' as a guess.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
30
Inclusion Criteria
  • Persons manifesting violence according to a pre-determined list of watched-for events will be observed
  • The victims of the above-mentioned violence will also be observed and interviewed
Exclusion Criteria
  • Persons not manifesting violence according to a pre-determined list of watched-for events

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
The number of violent events occuring per work periodBaseline to end of period (maximum of 10 hours)
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Day of the weekBaseline (hour 0)
DateBaseline (hour 0)
Time at the beginning of the observation periodBaseline (hour 0)
Number of male nurses present in the departmentBaseline to end of observation period (maximum 10 hours)
Number of nursing assistants present in the departmentBaseline to end of observation period (maximum 10 hours)
Number of doctors present in the departmentBaseline to end of observation period (maximum 10 hours)
Number of patients present in the departmentEnd of observation period (maximum 10 hours)
Number of female nurses present in the departmentBaseline to end of observation period (maximum 10 hours)
Number of accompaning persons (bringing in patients) present in the departmentEnd of observation period (maximum 10 hours)
Number of accompaning persons (bringing in patients) present in the waiting roomEnd of observation period (maximum 10 hours)
Time of day at the beginning of a staff debriefing during a shift change.During an observation period (maximum 10 hours)
Time of day at the end of a staff debriefing during a shift change.During an observation period (maximum 10 hours)
Time at the beginning of a violent eventDuring an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each person manifesting violence.

Time at the end of a violent eventDuring an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each person manifesting violence.

Was the event correctly declared according to current procedures? yes/noDuring an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each person manifesting violence.

Sex (m/f)During an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each victim of a person manifesting violence.

Is the person a patient or a person accompanying a patient?During an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each person manifesting violence.

Reason why the patient is coming to the emergency department.During an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each person manifesting violence.

Time (delay) patient has been waiting before manifestation of violence.During an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each person manifesting violence.

Age (years)During an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each victim of a person manifesting violence.

Years of work experienceDuring an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each victim of a person manifesting violence.

Professional categoryDuring an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each victim of a person manifesting violence.

Presence/absence of difference in what was observed and what the victim remembers72 hours after a violent event
Violence severity scaleDuring an observation period (maximum 10 hours)

To be recorded for each event for each person manifesting violence.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

CHRU de Nîmes - Hôpital Universitaire Carémeau

🇫🇷

Nîmes Cedex 09, France

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