Violence and Aggression in the National Health Service - Essay Example

Cell phones don't always have signal and when on call, I could be covering three other teams which have a clientele that I have no knowledge about, that is, if these people they are dealing with have mental illnesses, physical health problems or if the have problems related to drugs and alcohol. Because of the profession I am in and the nature of my assignment, I deemed it appropriate to opt for a study that deals with the numerous situations found in the healthcare industry, specifically the ones tackling the issue on aggression and violence that have been committed against health care professionals.

I believe, this issue is timely and relevant, especially with regards to my present professional circumstance. The matter on violence and aggression at work must be addressed for the simple reason that working in an environment of ongoing threat and intimidation is intensely and deeply devastating to the confidence and morale of health care professionals. And as for employers, the costs in terms of diminished efficiency, absence due to illness or injury and a bad image further restricts future recruitment.

Likewise, the general public will be anxious about the prevailing and continuing violence problems that have not been dealt with which may come to disturb the caring and commitment found at the core of every staff-patient relationship. Basically, this paper aims to find the problems of patients or anyone associated with patients, maybe a relative or carer, who have become aggressive or extremely hostile towards their health care provider. At the same time, this will highlight whether or not aggression is really a problem and if it is, will attempt to establish the scope of the problem.

In gathering information, questionnaires will be employed, likewise, an extensive array of published materials on the topic will be researched on and discriminately sifted through so as to be able to assimilate and collate sufficient evidence that will display substantial knowledge on the matter. In addition, the survey will query on whether the health care professionals have encountered violence and aggression at the time they have been employed within the NHS and if they have been provided any training in dealing with hostile and exceedingly violent patients.

And finally if there are policies formulated and guidelines being set and are put in place to try to reduce the risks of aggression and the incidence of violent acts taking place. Literature ReviewAntagonism and violent behavior directed towards health care professionals have become the center of attention within the UK government in recent years in an effort to transform attitudes and responses to such aggression and hostility (National Health Service, 2002). From available statistics, there has been an apparent increase in reported incidents, that is, 65,000 in 1998-1999 against 84,273 in 2000-2001, though it could be that it is the reporting which has increased and not the incidence of violent occurrences.

The dilemma on violence and aggression towards health care practitioners has been an interesting area of research, however, a great deal of the existing evidence relates only to psychiatric settings.