A clinical nurse specialist in the Mental Health Program at St. Michael's Hospital (Unity Health Toronto) and an adjunct lecturer at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto in Toronto, ON.
A research coordinator in the Interprofessional Practice Based Research Program at St. Michael's Hospital (Unity Health Toronto) in Toronto, ON.
Healthc Q. 2021 Apr;24(1):50-53. doi: 10.12927/hcq.2021.26465.
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, patients with and without pre-existing mental health diagnoses will either be admitted to the hospital as patients under investigation for COVID-19 or patients positive for COVID-19. A safe and timely response is required for patients exhibiting escalating behaviours (e.g., responsive, agitated and/or aggressive behaviours) to prevent harm to the patient, nearby patients and staff. In this paper, we report on a new protocol that has been implemented throughout our institution to address Code White calls for escalating behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. This procedure uses a least restraint-based philosophy for the management of an escalating situation, involves the use of an interprofessional team of healthcare providers (including mental health clinicians) and security team members and accounts for the need for personal protective equipment. We believe that other hospitals could benefit from knowing about this approach as a strategy to improve patient care and diminish disease transmission.
在持续的 COVID-19 大流行期间，有和没有预先存在的心理健康诊断的患者将要么作为 COVID-19 调查患者，要么作为 COVID-19 阳性患者住院。对于表现出行为升级（例如，反应性、激动和/或攻击性行为）的患者，需要进行安全且及时的应对，以防止患者、附近的患者和工作人员受到伤害。在本文中，我们报告了一项已在我们机构全面实施的新协议，以解决 COVID-19 大流行期间因行为升级而引发的“Code White”呼叫。该程序采用了一种基于最低限制的理念来管理升级情况，涉及使用一支包括心理健康临床医生在内的多专业医疗团队和安全团队成员，并考虑到个人防护设备的需求。我们相信，其他医院可以从这种方法中受益，将其作为一种提高患者护理和减少疾病传播的策略。
