Date: 26/09/2022

Introduction

This essay aims to reflect on how I should prepare myself to become more confident and competent when handling aggressive patients, rude family members, and patients with psychiatric issues, managing their unmet expectations, needs, wants or demands, and providing holistic personal care for a patient who exhibits anger or aggression simultaneously after watching a few video clips recorded by health care professionals. Understanding anger, acknowledging appropriate interaction, and de-escalation are beneficial and essential for my future nursing pathway.

Understanding anger

Angry or aggressive patients pose a safety threat; their outbursts can cause potential violence or physical harm to health care professionals and other patients. Angry can be verbal or nonverbal, e.g., exaggerated gestures or complete silence, and an agitation continuum with rage and violence moving up the scale. Therefore, nurses need to understand the anger and communicate effectively and compassionately to help patients to control and manage it.

Interacting with angry or aggressive patients

Firstly, maintain some distance from patients. This action prevents health care professionals from being physically harmed cause by patients but also provides personal space for the patient to ease their anxiety. Secondly, help patients to manage their anger. Being empathetic, listening to their needs or demands, and acknowledging and addressing them accordingly. Thirdly, avoiding the use of restraint. Last but not least, avoiding coercive intervention. Treat patients with dignity and respect (NMC, 2018).

De-escalation process

The goal of de-escalation is to ease the patient’s anger in a compassionate, collaborative way and treat them with dignity and respect. Firstly, speak calmly, reassuring the patient’s concerns and needs but firmly with a lower pitch, volume and rate. Secondly, address and respond patient’s want or demand selectively, answer all informational questions and never ignore the patient. Thirdly, ask open-ended questions, empathetically listen to their needs, and show empathy and understanding. Lastly, maintain safety distancing and with arms down, palms facing posture to deliver the message that I am here to help and not to cause any harm.

Summary

In conclusion, understanding anger, effectively communicating and interacting with angry or aggressive patients, and applying the de-escalation process, is essential skills and technique that I need to understand and master throughout my nursing professional development. These skills could minimise the safety threat posed by angry or aggressive patients. They allow me to prioritise people and provide holistic patient care with dignity and respect.

Reference

Nursing and Midwife Council (NMC) (2018) The Code. Available at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/nmc-publications/nmc-code.pdf (accessed 26Sep2022)