Hmm,,,,, Working in a nursing home specialising in dementia, I can see from the article that staff in some care homes, lack the skills needed to deal with potentially violent residents. When I'm communicating with our residents, I maintain eye contact (as much as possible) so I can judge the reaction to a question asked or something I say to the person (believe me it can prepare you better than just listening) With residents (who are (at times) disorientated, confused, or just plain frightened, distraction techniques can work quite well. Speaking in a calm, quiet voice, can often defuse a situation. I can honestly say that in all the years I've worked in health care, we've never had to call the police to attend any incident concerning a resident.. I've witnessed one resident , lash out at a care worker. The care worker just calmly turned around and walked away (with a broken nose btw) Police were not called and the resident was calmed down , using the techniques I mentioned earlier, and the care worker returned to their duties within a week.
TamsinTStaff Member