De-escalation training's impact on nurses facing workplace violence in public and private hospitals in Pakistan: a quasi-experimental study

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of de-escalation training among nurses exposed to workplace violence in hospitals. Method: The quasi-experimental study was conducted at the private-sector Ziauddin Hospital and the public-sector Dr Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi, from June to December 2022, and comprised nurses aged 20-50 years with a minimum of six months of professional experience who had faced exposure to workplace violence in the preceding two months. The subjects were randomised into intervention group A and control group B. Those in group A received de-escalation training, while their counterparts in group B engaged in infrequent discussions. De-escalation training was delivered through a one-day workshop. Nurses’ self-attributed confidence levels were measured at baseline and two months post-training using the Confidence Coping with Patient Aggression instrument. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. Result: Of the 131 subjects, 95(72.5%) were females, 36(27.5%) were males and 102(77.9%) were aged 20-30 years. There were 67(51.1%) subjects from the public-sector facility and 64(48.9%) were from the private-sector entity. There were 67(51.1%) subjects n group A and 64(48.9%) in group B. De-escalation training proved significantly effective both in private and public hospital settings compared to baseline scores (p<0.05) and the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Among the nurses exposed to workplace violence, de-escalation training was successful in boosting the confidence level of the nurses.