3021-25: Improving Safety with a Nurse-Driven Agitation Protocol

This interactive presentation presents innovative strategies to reduce agitation and patient related workplace violence and increase safety on inpatient psychiatric units. This presentation provides behavioral health and nursing professionals simple evidence-based tools for early intervention in patient agitation. Through consistent and effective practice, patient and staff outcomes can be improved.

Presenters:  Paige Goldade, BSN, RN, PMH-BC; Caitlin Powell, RN, AS

Disclosures:  The APNA planners and faculty have no relevant financial relationships to disclose. Off-label uses will not be discussed during this presentation.

Session Length:  45 minutes

Target Audience:  RN, APRN

Learning Outcome:
Upon completion of this presentation, the participant will be able to:

• Describe how to assess a patient's signs and symptoms of agitation using evidence-based scales.

Key Takeaway(s): 

• Validation can help reduce patient agitation.
• Engagement and de-escalation techniques strengthen the therapeutic relationship.

Keywords:  Agitation, Violence Reduction, Inpatient Safety

Nursing Continuing Professional Development:
0.75 contact hours.  * In order to receive contact hours, you must: Listen to the entire presentation, complete the reflection activity, evaluation, and honor statement before the expiration date. Once all steps are successfully completed, a certificate will be generated online and available for you to print immediately. Contact hours cannot be awarded unless all required components are completed. 

The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Release Date:  December 1, 2025
Access to this course will end:  December 1, 2028

*For an uninterrupted learning experience, please download and use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, etc. If you continue to experience issues, you may need to update your browser.