Top 10 De-Escalation Tips for Health Care Professionals
Every day at the workplace presents new encounters, situations, and challenges for the health care professional. You may find yourself dealing with angry, hostile, or noncompliant behavior every day. Your response to this defensive behavior plays a critical role in determining whether or not the incident will escalate into a crisis situation. These 10 de-escalation tips provide strategies and techniques to help you respond to difficult behavior in the safest, most effective way possible.
- Be empathetic and nonjudgmental
- Respect personal space
- Allow time for decisions
- Use nonthreatening nonverbals
- Set limits
- Focus on feelings
- Ignore challenging questions
- Avoid overreacting
- Choose what you insist upon wisely
- Allow silence for reflection
