Predictive Ability of the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression-Inpatient Version (DASA-IV) in Medical-Surgical Units.

Background: Workplace violence persists in health care with nurses reporting physical and verbal abuse from aggressive patients causing emotional stress and lost workdays. The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression-Inpatient Version (DASA-IV) was developed to measure risk for aggression in patients with behavioral health conditions in psychiatric and emergency department settings. The DASA-IV has not been validated with adult patients admitted to medical-surgical units.