Workplace violence (WPV) is a significant occupational hazard in healthcare, with emergency department (ED) nurses experiencing disproportionately high rates of verbal and physical aggression from patients and visitors. Exposure to workplace violence can negatively impact nurse safety, job satisfaction, retention, and overall quality of patient care. Evidence suggests that inadequate training and low confidence in managing aggressive patients contributes to increased stress, burnout, and underreporting of workplace violence incidents.
The purpose of this quality improvement project is to implement an educational intervention aimed at improving ED nurses’ knowledge and confidence in de-escalation strategies to decrease the incidence of workplace violence. The Malcolm Knowles Adult Learning Theory was used to guide and provide the conceptual framework for this project. The project will be a pre-posttest survey design and will be conducted with approximately 30 emergency department registered nurses at Newport Hospital. The intervention will consist of a didactic educational session, a simulation-based learning experience and structured debriefing session. Knowledge will be assessed using a 10-question test, while confidence will be measured using a 5-point Likert scale. Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
Expected outcomes include increased nurse knowledge and confidence regarding workplace violence prevention and de-escalation techniques, improved preparedness when caring for aggressive patients, and enhanced workplace safety. Findings from this project may support the integration of standardized de-escalation education into annual competency training and workplace violence prevention initiatives within the emergency department.
