Osama Al Diabat, Khadija Alhumaid, Maryam Alawadhi, Talal Mouzaek, Kawthar Al Matri, Said A. Salloum, Ahmad Aburayya
Aim: Workplace aggression is a significant problem in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and internationally. Studies demonstrated that the emergency nurses are the most at-risk group, among other healthcare professionals, who are exposed to daily aggressive behaviour from patients, relatives, and other visitors. This study adopts the SCARF model as a long-term aggression preventive program. The general objective of this study is to measure the effect of implementing the SCARF model on the perception of aggression among emergency nurses working in Dubai Hospitals. The specific objectives include measuring nurses’ perception of aggression, and measuring the effect of implementing the SCARF training on aggression rate and severity, and performance of emergency nurses. Method: A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test design was adopted. One hundred and seventy (170) emergency nurses (85 in the intervention and 85 in the control group) participated in this study. The nurses' perception was recorded by the modified version of the Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale (MAVAS). Results: The results showed statistically significant differences between control and experimental groups at p>.001. The results indicated that implementing the intervention in the experimental hospital had influenced the perception of the emergency nurses. Moreover, the results showed a difference in both aggression rate and severity of aggression incidents after implementing the SCARF model. A comparison between aggression rate before and after the study intervention, the findings showed 42 (28%) reduction of aggression rate. The severity of aggression incidents were reduced at all levels. There were 71 level 1 incidents reported after implementing the study intervention compared with 88 before the intervention with 17(16%) reduction rate. Implementing the SCARF model has influenced the way the participants managed the aggressive behaviors. The results showed a statistically significant difference in using new and old management approaches after implementing the study intervention. There was an increase of 57 (80%) in using new management approaches such as “talked down”, “negotiation” and “reassurance”; and a decrease of 37 (46%) in using old management approaches such as “restraints”, “holding”, and “medications”. Conclusion: The study findings indicated that the SCARF model is imperative to reduce aggression incidents and develop a plan for preventing, responding to, training and controlling aggression incidents.