Many nurses are physically and verbally abused by the patients under their care, with those providing care to patients dealing with mental illness or addition being at particular risk. Leadership of the project site, an urban mental health treatment center, identified a need to provide additional education to improve their nursing staff's ability to work with combative patients and prevent escalation of violent behaviors. Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory and adaptation to the environment guided the development of this project to answer the question if an education program for nurses working with potentially combative patients will increase their knowledge of strategies to prevent escalation of violent behavior. The education program was developed using results from an extensive literature review and input from a team of local subject experts, who provided evaluation regarding their satisfaction with the planning process through the completion of an anonymous, 10 questions, Likert-type survey. All team members scored each question with a (5) strongly agree or (4) agree. Project deliverables handed over to the facility included the developed education program, an associated handout, a plan for later implementation, and plans for outcome evaluation through evaluation of learning. This project has the potential to achieve positive social change through less violent encounters between nurses and patients, contributing to an increased culture of safety.