Patient and Family Member Violent Situations in a Pediatric Hospital: A Descriptive Study.

Only 26 behavioral emergency responses occurred over 18 months, and only the first response per patient or family member was analyzed, so percentages are unstable. The staff survey response rate was 28%, and registered nurse and physician response rates were low, so respondents may have been staff with more violence exposure. The behavioral emergency response data and staff survey data could not be matched or directly compared because they covered different time frames and small samples. The study did not confirm survey behaviors by diagnosis or chart review, and it did not determine intention, purposefulness, or physical contact for many behaviors. It was a single-site descriptive study, so results are not generalizable and cannot show associations between diagnoses and violent situations. The survey was not statistically tested for content validity or reliability.

Do not read the 73% staff violence report as a national rate or as proof that behavioral emergency responses work. It came from one hospital, a 28% survey response, and behavioral emergency response data that could not be matched to survey responses.