At a maximum-security forensic hospital over a three-year period, 79
patients (35 percent of all patients) were involved in 157 staff injuries.
Staff members' average postinjury absence from work was 85 days, at a cost
equivalent to about 2 percent of the hospital's budget. Nursing staff,
particularly psychiatric technicians, had the highest injury rate. Male
staff were about twice as likely to be injured as female staff. More
injuries occurred on the second shift. Patients who injured staff were
younger than those who did not. Florid psychotic behavior, nonpsychotic
agitation, and the recent use of restraints were the most common prodromal
signs.
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