Violence experienced by nurses' aides in nursing homes: an exploratory study.

1. The growing aged population in the United States will result in an increase in nursing home patients, and in numbers of employees in these homes providing care to patients. Nurses' aides, an employee group that has not received much attention, will be the primary providers of this patient care. 2. In this preliminary study the abuse experienced by nurses' aides in nursing homes was both a psychosocial and ergonomic stressor, because it had emotional and psychological components, as well as actual physical injury. 3. Nurses' aides, like other workers, deserve a safe and healthful workplace. A large scale study should be done to determine the extent of abuse/violence directed toward nursing home employees. 4. If abuse is validated as a problem, aides should receive training in handling abusive patients. In addition, it is important to identify the factors related to patients' abusive behaviors and to test mechanisms for reducing these behaviors.