De-escalation Techniques/ Redirection techniques for Crisis Situations

[babaloo]

What are some de-escalation and redirection techniques to use to help calm a patient down when a patient is entering a crisis? I was thinking of redirecting the patient to another activity to help calm the patient such as taking a walk. Also I was thinking of offering the patient to move to a quiet room or his/her own room until they feel calmer. What other appropriate redirection activities could the nurse offer that would be safe for the patient?

[tareija]

I'm not a police officer so I can't answer how they are trained to respond.

I am sure I encounter people with mental illness every day on the street. They are common illnesses and the vast majority of the time, people with mental illness are not a threat to anyone.

If I encountered a person in public who appeared angry and had a weapon, regardless of if they are mentally ill or not, I would call the police.

[fiba]

I'm not a police officer so I can't answer how they are trained to respond.

I am sure I encounter people with mental illness every day on the street. They are common illnesses and the vast majority of the time, people with mental illness are not a threat to anyone.

If I encountered a person in public who appeared angry and had a weapon, regardless of if they are mentally ill or not, I would call the police.

I wonder how much training officers receive in regards to mental health. Thanks for answering.

[nurse lala, BSN, RN]

what would you do if a person is in crisis and has a weapon? like a gun?? .

Mental health professionals strive to avoid getting into a situation in which a gun is encountered. Your primary goal is to prevent harm. Which means you and everyone else need to get away and quickly.Then let the police officials deal with weapons.

If a hostage situation occurs. Stay calm. Be persuasive. Keep the culprit talking.

[JuliRN]

At my facility we do a de-escalation form with all new admits. It's basically a little packet where the patient can list some things that set them off, things that upset them more during a crisis, things that help when they are becoming agitated, etc. The lists are pretty specific with some of the options that patients are given. For example, one of the questions might be "Who do you prefer to intervene when you are becoming agitated"? Some of the answers are Older male staff, younger male staff, older female staff, young female staff, etc. These are all in the front of patients charts so it's really worthwhile to look them over at the beginning of each shift. =]