Case Study: Mental Health Unit Restraint Reduction Training
an ‘open’ psychiatric unit with separate male and female wards, delivering services in a highly multi-cultural/multi-ethnic/multi-national environment.
the nurse-manager in charge of the psychiatric unit initially wanted his own staff trained, and ultimately also included members of the emergency department and the hospital security team in the training in order to promote a uniform understanding and approach to violence and aggression in the hospital.
were deployed to this client to provide a tailored programme of training within the Mental Health Unit. With a view to assisting the hospital to meet international standards in healthcare and patient safety, the team matched standards in UK law, mental health practice and those of the Joint Commission and UN Human Rights for the programme. Physical skills development, in line with the above, enabled the staff to drastically increase the professionalism with which they managed the risks of violence and aggression in their settings.
Staff reported a 95% satisfaction rating with the training, commenting often on how they had never been shown ways in which to control agitated clients with care and sensitivity, respect and maintaining dignity, before this programme began. The hospital passed its JCIA inspections, having had its procedures on patient restraint examined in detail. Inappropriate use of mechanical restraint devices declined by 90% following this training programme.
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