Presentation
Engaging staff and physicians on opportunities to improve safety in a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit setting: A Collaborative Applied Safety Project
SessionPoster Session 1
DescriptionPsychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) present elevated physical and psychological risks to patients, staff and physicians, and burnout for staff and physicians. Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (Ontario Shores) has three PICUs in General Complex Psychiatry, as well as a PICU in the Forensic Assessment Unit (FAU), each with its unique set of environmental considerations, patient populations, and patient care needs. Engagement with various key participants with lived experience of receiving and providing care in a psychiatric intensive care environment including staff, physicians, and members of Patient and Family Advisory, is critical for understanding the collective needs to improve safety in the PICUs.
Objective
In its continuing efforts to improving safety for patients, staff, and physicians, Ontario Shores and Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) engaged in a collaborative applied safety project to identify opportunities to improve workflows, work environment, and safety culture in the Ontario Shores PICUs. By gathering feedback from various key participant groups, a collective understanding of the needs can be used to establish of list of priorities for improving safety.
Methods
Working closely with the Risk Management team at Ontario Shores, Human factors specialists from HIROC conducted an on-site visit at each of the PICUs, including a brief tour of the unit, and a set of semi-structured interviews with various key participants at Ontario Shores. Participant roles included Admin Director, Clinical Manager, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Occupational Therapist, Behavioral Therapist, Social Worker, Patient Care Facilitator, Psychiatrist, Physician Assistant, Nursing, and members of Patient and Family Advisory, and members of Risk Management. Interviews were conducted individually or in small groups, depending on the availability of the participants. Contemporaneous notes were taken using pen and paper, and a thematic analysis was conducted on the anonymized data.
Results/Learning
The thematic analysis revealed several common themes between the PICUs. This included, for example, considerations around:
- Communication between patients and staff from the team station, and into the patient rooms, while balancing safety, privacy, and confidentiality.
- Environmental factors to reduce patient overstimulation (e.g., lighting, sound) and promote patient self-regulation.
- Opportunities to safely pass items from the team station to the PICU, e.g., a pass-through window.
- Visibility into patient rooms, common areas, and courtyard areas.
There were also unique considerations between each of the PICUs, including opportunities for unused space in particular PICUs, and considerations around risk controls such as locks, doors, and beds to accommodate varying patient needs on the units.
Objective
In its continuing efforts to improving safety for patients, staff, and physicians, Ontario Shores and Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) engaged in a collaborative applied safety project to identify opportunities to improve workflows, work environment, and safety culture in the Ontario Shores PICUs. By gathering feedback from various key participant groups, a collective understanding of the needs can be used to establish of list of priorities for improving safety.
Methods
Working closely with the Risk Management team at Ontario Shores, Human factors specialists from HIROC conducted an on-site visit at each of the PICUs, including a brief tour of the unit, and a set of semi-structured interviews with various key participants at Ontario Shores. Participant roles included Admin Director, Clinical Manager, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Occupational Therapist, Behavioral Therapist, Social Worker, Patient Care Facilitator, Psychiatrist, Physician Assistant, Nursing, and members of Patient and Family Advisory, and members of Risk Management. Interviews were conducted individually or in small groups, depending on the availability of the participants. Contemporaneous notes were taken using pen and paper, and a thematic analysis was conducted on the anonymized data.
Results/Learning
The thematic analysis revealed several common themes between the PICUs. This included, for example, considerations around:
- Communication between patients and staff from the team station, and into the patient rooms, while balancing safety, privacy, and confidentiality.
- Environmental factors to reduce patient overstimulation (e.g., lighting, sound) and promote patient self-regulation.
- Opportunities to safely pass items from the team station to the PICU, e.g., a pass-through window.
- Visibility into patient rooms, common areas, and courtyard areas.
There were also unique considerations between each of the PICUs, including opportunities for unused space in particular PICUs, and considerations around risk controls such as locks, doors, and beds to accommodate varying patient needs on the units.
Authors
Event Type
Poster Presentation
TimeMonday, March 234:45pm - 6:15pm EDT
LocationRhinelander Gallery
Patient Safety Research and Initiatives