De-escalation: 7 tips for nurses on handling conflict situations

Nurses in every setting face tensions and difficult situations involving patients, families and even colleagues. Employ these de-escalation skills to manage conflict

Healthcare often involves strong emotions and difficult situations, making staying calm when things are starting to escalate a vital skill for nurses.

While often associated with mental health settings, de-escalation strategies and techniques for conflict situations are so essential they are taught to students across all four fields of nursing, in line with Nursing and Midwifery Council standards .

Using de-escalation skills with patients, families and colleagues

National Violence Reduction Network for Nurses chair Ana Waddington, who is rough sleeper outreach nurse for University College Hospital NHS