What is a Management of Assaultive Behavior (MAB) Certification?
Working in a hospital, doctor’s office, or different medical setting, you deal with tens to hundreds of people every day. Often, the people you encounter are in the midst of high-stress situations — and sometimes, that stress comes to the surface. In rare cases, encounters with patients and other personnel can teeter on the verge of violence. In these cases, you need to be prepared.
Management of Assaultive Behavior (MAB) is a certification course that teaches students the skills they need to identify, prevent, and mitigate assaultive behavior in professional settings. Offered by a number of accredited institutions, MAB is constructed in accordance with Bills AB-508 and SB1299, and the California Code of Regulations Title 22. In this guide, we cover all-things MAB, answering the following questions: What is MAB? Who is required to take the MAB course? How long is a MAB certification good for? Learn more about MAB below, and enroll in a MAB certification course from our award-winning team here at SureFire CPR today!
How to de-escalate a violent patient with MAB techniques
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What Is MAB?
Short for Management of Assaultive Behavior, MAB is a certification course that teaches medical professionals the skills they need to manage violent behavior at every stage. Led by a certified and experienced instructor, MAB teaches identification, prevention, de-escalation, and mitigation skills that can help medical employees, their peers, and their patients stay safe. A MAB certification is required for certain medical professionals in the state of California — though it’s recommended for any healthcare worker that regularly sees a large volume of patients. You can learn more about whether you need to complete a MAB course in the following section.
Who Is Required to Take the MAB Course?
As we covered in our intro, the MAB certification course is constructed to meet the stipulations of Bills AB-508 and SB1299, along with Title 22 from the California Code of Regulations. These bills stipulate a number of things that certain individuals must learn (which we’ll cover in the section below)—but what do they say about the individuals who have to learn them? Put simply: who is required to take the MAB course? Thankfully, the answer is quite simple. Per the California State Law, a MAB certification (or equivalent training) is required for “all employees regularly assigned to an emergency room or psychiatric department.”
As you can see, the law does not require all healthcare employees to receive MAB training—only those who work in emergency rooms or psychiatric departments. However, it is highly recommended that any healthcare professional who deals with a large number of patients or patient family members receive MAB training. High-stress medical environments are high-risk zones for assaultive behavior—and the more people you work with, the higher your chances are of encountering an assaultive or potentially assaultive situation. Should that situation arise, you need the skills to address it. You need a MAB certification.
Your MAB Course: What You’ll Learn
At this point in our guide, you know what MAB is and you know who needs to take it. Now, it’s time to dive into the details to learn a bit more about the skills and materials covered in a MAB certification course.
Before jumping into a list of course materials, it’s important to note that all MAB courses focus heavily on non-physical methods of conflict intervention. MAB is not a self-defense course per se. Instead, it covers verbal and behavioral strategies for identifying potentially violent situations, intervening when conflict is present, de-escalating conflict, and responding safely should violence occur. MAB courses will cover the following topics:
- The meaning of assault
- Types of assaultive behaviors and their causes
- General and personal safety measures
- The assault cycle
- Aggression- and violence-predicting factors
- How to obtain patient history from a patient with violent behavior
- Characteristics of aggressive and violent patients and victims
- Verbal and physical maneuvers to diffuse and avoid violent behavior
- Strategies to avoid physical harm
- Restraining techniques
- Appropriate use of medications and chemical restraints
How Long is a MAB Certification Course? How Long is a MAB Certification Good For?
Most MAB certification courses take anywhere from two hours to four hours to complete. Upon successful completion of a MAB course, you will be awarded a completion certificate valid for 1 year. This training is required by law to be completed every year, so the maximum certification length is 12 months. Be wary of anyone that offers a certification longer than 1 year, without annual training you will be noncompliant with California law. Once your certificate expires, you must retake a MAB certification course to sharpen your skills and remain compliant.
Choosing a MAB Certification Course: Factors to Consider
There are a number of MAB certification courses offered across the state of California and beyond. Choosing the best one for your needs may require a bit of research. First, it’s important to establish whether the course you’re considering is, in fact, a MAB certification course. This particular course goes by many different names, including AB508, Assaultive Behavior Training (ABT), Assaultive Behavior Response (ABR), Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI), Violence Prevention Training (VPT), and several more. To determine if the course you’re considering covers the right material for professionals in the state of California, make sure that’s constructed in accordance with Bills AB508 and SB1299, and Title 22 from the California Code of Regulations.
From there, you’ll want to do some research on the institutions offering the courses you’re considering. Not all MAB courses are created equal—and that’s largely due to the quality of instruction offered. Be sure to choose a well-reviewed, established institution with a track record of success. Finally, you may have a preference between online or in-person courses. Check to make sure the provider you’re considering offers the course in the format you prefer. Here at SureFire CPR, we proudly offer our MAB certification course entirely online.
Learn More and Enroll Here at SureFire CPR
Need a more extensive answer to “what is the Management of Assaultive Behavior (MAB) course?” Ready to enroll and earn your MAB certification? Our team at SureFire CPR has you covered. For more information and resources on MAB, you can contact our team directly or visit our MAB certification course page. From there, you can also enroll in our fully online MAB certification course. Led by the nation’s top instructors and constructed to provide an extensive overview on how to identify, prevent, and mitigate assaultive behavior, our MAB course is a must-take for healthcare professionals in California and beyond. Enroll with us today!
