Have you ever had an aggressive patient attack you at work? If so, how did you handle the situation?
Working in behavioral health, you may encounter patients who become aggressive. The interviewer wants to hear if you were ever attacked at work and, if so, how you handled the situation. They want to understand how you deal with conflict and use your communication skills to diffuse the situation. Of course, you want to follow company protocols while doing so.
If you have encountered a situation with an aggressive patient, describe what happened and how you successfully handled the patient while protecting yourself and others. If a patient has not attacked you, focus on explaining what you would do based on your training and experience. The main goal is to show that you can remain calm and professional when encountering an aggressive situation.
"Yes, I had an aggressive patient attack me from behind when I entered her room to check on her. I was working in a locked psychiatric facility with many aggressive patients. Our protocol was to protect ourselves while keeping the patient from being harmed. We had a call button we pushed to alert staff that there was a situation. I was able to restrain the patient's hands until help arrived, so she did not hurt either one of us. After that incident, the protocols changed, and we only entered a patient's room with two or more staff members present."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
I haven't had that experience of a physical attack, but a professional one with an emotional outburst or demeaning language is something I've experienced. How I've handled this in the past, has been to stay very calm, use pauses before responding to accentuate the fact that I feel their comment is unprofessional or uncalled for, and then respond with how we are all aiming for the best possible outcome, we're all on the same side, etc. Afterward, I will discuss the best path forward with my manager and potentially the other person's manager as well.
Jaymie's Feedback
This can be a difficult situation to be in, so interviewers want to know that you can remain calm and keep your composure. Your response demonstrates just that and you're also able to loop in a supervisor when you need support or assistance. Good job!
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