Workplace Violence Prevention Training for Health Care
You work in an environment where a patient can become a threat in seconds. Where a family member in the waiting room is frightened and escalating. Where staff are expected to de-escalate, document, treat, and move on. Without the right training, those moments cost people more than they should.
Crisis Prevention Institute trains health care professionals to recognize a crisis before it escalates. To intervene with confidence. To protect patients, visitors, and themselves. More than 20,000 health care organizations worldwide have trusted CPI to build that capability into their teams.
CPI is the industry-leading provider of de-escalation training for health care organizations. For 45 years, our workplace violence experts have partnered with health systems to implement customized training solutions that create a safe environment. This ensures staff at all risk levels are equipped with the skills to confidently recognize and prevent workplace violence among patients, families, and visitors.
What brings you here today?
What Changes When Your Health System Trains With Crisis Prevention Institute: Build a Culture of Safety with Enterprise-Wide Training
Take a closer look at how implementing CPI de-escalation training for all staff supports a safer health system for everyone.
Increase staff confidence and retention
Our training helps staff recognize and prevent workplace violence, building their confidence, and increasing their job satisfaction and retention rates.
Add relevant, hands-on training
We provide hands-on training, so staff gain relevant skills based on the patients they serve and the real-life scenarios they encounter.
Build a culture of safety
We design a training plan specific to your unique needs and risks, giving you the tools to achieve an enterprise-wide culture of safety.
Reduce incidents before they happen
We believe most crises are preventable. Staff learn to read early warning signs and intervene before a situation reaches a dangerous threshold.
CHRISTUS Health Improves Staff Safety with CPI Training
CHRISTUS Southern New Mexico partnered with CPI to implement cross-departmental de‑escalation training. In just two years, CHRISTUS saw a 65% reduction in workplace violence incidents. Hear from Judy Flores, Director of Education at CHRISTUS Southern New Mexico, as she shares how CPI’s person-centered training approach helped reinforce their commitment to safer care.
What Workplace Violence Prevention Training Covers
De-escalation is not a single technique. It is a structured approach to crisis prevention that begins before a situation becomes dangerous. Crisis Prevention Institute trains health care staff across the following core areas.
Recognizing early warning signs
Most crises follow a pattern. Behavior changes before a situation becomes dangerous. Crisis Prevention Institute training teaches staff to identify those changes and respond at the earliest opportunity, before a situation reaches a point where physical risk is present.
Verbal communication under pressure
De-escalation depends on how you communicate, not just what you say. Crisis Prevention Institute training develops specific communication skills: non-threatening tone, active listening, and language that reduces fear rather than amplifies it. These are practiced skills, not instincts.
Non-threatening body language and positioning
Physical presence affects how a distressed person responds. Staff learn how to position themselves, how to use space, and how to signal calm without words.
Person-centered and trauma-informed response
A patient in crisis may be responding to pain, fear, or a history of trauma. Crisis Prevention Institute training helps staff understand what may be driving a behavior, not just how to stop it. That understanding changes the quality of the intervention.
When and how to use physical intervention safely
For staff in environments where physical risk is present, Crisis Prevention Institute training covers safe disengagement and, where necessary, safe physical intervention. Physical techniques are taught as a last resort, not a first response.
Post-crisis recovery and debrief
A crisis does not end when the behavior stops. Crisis Prevention Institute training includes a post-crisis framework that helps staff support the patient, process what happened, and reduce the likelihood of a repeat incident.
Training That Works Across Your Entire Health System
Large health systems face a specific challenge. Emergency has different risk levels than oncology. The behavioral health unit has different needs than the front desk. Crisis Prevention Institute builds training plans that account for those differences. Every facility. Every role. One consistent approach to safety.
CPI supports more than 20,000 organizations worldwide, including large, multi-site health systems that need scalable, role-appropriate training without sacrificing quality. Empower your entire health system with comprehensive de-escalation training programs designed for large-scale operations. Our tailored approach promotes a culture of safety across multiple facilities by standardizing training, identifying risks, and streamlining operational rollout—helping to reduce workplace violence and safeguard patient care.
CPI Courses
Training Solutions Designed for Your Unique Needs
Not every member of your staff faces the same level of risk. Crisis Prevention Institute designs training plans that reflect that reality. A care assistant on a dementia ward needs different skills to a security officer in an emergency department. At CPI, we know every health care organization is different. We’ll partner with you to assess your system’s current state of workplace violence prevention, so that our experts can design a training plan to fit your unique needs.
Prevention First Online Training
A 30-minute, online, on-demand program that helps staff identify escalating behaviors and know when to call for help.
Explore ProgramVerbal Intervention Training
For facilities with a hands-off policy, this program instills the confidence and skills to verbally de-escalate disruptive behaviors.
Explore ProgramNonviolent Crisis Intervention Training
Provides the skills to respond to everyday crises, including safe disengagements and restrictive interventions.
Explore ProgramNCI With Advanced Physical Skills
For facilities working with patients who display dangerous or complex behavior, the program teaches safe and advanced disengagement skills.
Explore ProgramAdd Specialty Topics
Enhance Your Training for the Patients You Serve
Add a CPI specialty topic to our foundational Verbal Intervention, Nonviolent Crisis Intervention, or NCI With Advanced Physical Skills Training programs to customize your skills and techniques by staff roles and the patients you serve.
Make an Impact with CPI
What Changes When Your Health System Trains With Crisis Prevention Institute
Take a closer look at how implementing CPI de-escalation training for all staff supports a safer health system for everyone.
Increase staff confidence and retention
Our training helps staff recognize and prevent workplace violence, building their confidence, and increasing their job satisfaction and retention rates.
Add relevant, hands-on training
We provide hands-on training, so staff gain relevant skills based on the patients they serve and the real-life scenarios they encounter.
Build a culture of safety
We design a training plan specific to your unique needs and risks, giving you the tools to achieve an enterprise-wide culture of safety.
Reduce incidents before they happen
We believe most crises are preventable. Staff learn to read early warning signs and intervene before a situation reaches a dangerous threshold.
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Learn from Your Fellow Health Care Providers
Hear from our contributing health care experts and CPI Certified Instructors as they share their insights and knowledge through our VOICES of CPI blog series.
Topics include applying trauma-informed strategies, preventing workplace violence, meeting compliance, and thethe importance of top-down leadership. , and more to help you meet your workplace safety goals. Written by people who work in health care, for people who work in health care.
Access Industry Guides and Resources
CPI’s library offers access to free, downloadable guides and resources to help you expand your knowledge of CPI best practices. Included in our resources is the first‑of‑its‑kind Workplace Violence Prevention Handbook, authored by health care professionals to help you navigate the complex topic of workplace violence.
View Customer Testimonials and Program Overviews
Hear from CPI customers who have found success by implementing one of our workplace training solutions across their health system. And take a closer look at our portfolio of de-escalation training programs for health care professionals.
Explore Workplace Violence Prevention Data
Our 2026 Workplace Violence Prevention Training Annual Report provides essential insights into the current state of workplace safety in health care. Learn key industry benchmarks that help identify gaps in training, offering actionable insights and data-driven solutions.