Violence Against Nursing Students: A Review of Potential Literature

Background: The incidence of workplace violence has continued to occupy a significant place in healthcare at a rate nearly double that in other industries. Those providing direct bedside care are among the most vulnerable to violence, including nursing students. Among the evidence-based tools which may be deployed in such circumstances is verbal de-escalation, or the practice of verbal and physical behaviors and actions meant to calm (or at least not exacerbate) the patient. This literature review outlines the history of research on violence against nursing students and identifies the next steps for addressing this problem. Method: A search for relevant studies included using the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ProQuest, Ovid, Science Direct, Medline, and PubMed databases using key terms such as nursing student, verbal de-escalation, aggression, and violence. Results: Search identified 19,000 articles but only 28 focused on violence experienced by nursing students and are covered in this review. Conclusion: Verbal de-escalation training may represent a promising solution for teaching students how to handle workplace violence. Furthur investigation of this and other solutions is necessary.