title: Staff training decreases use of seclusion and restraint in an acute psychiatric hospital.
abstract: Rates of seclusion and restraint in an urban psychiatric hospital were compared during the 12-month periods before and after implementing the recommendations of a multidisciplinary quality improvement work-group convened to reduce the hospital's use of physical containment. Interventions included a mandatory staff training session on the management of assaultive behavior, weekly discussion items during team meetings for each local ward, and hospital-wide publicity charting the ongoing progress of the effort. Total annual rates of restraint dropped 13.8%. The average duration of restraint per admission decreased 54.6%. Staff injuries were reduced by 18.8% during the study period.
authors.affiliation: San Francisco Country Community Mental Health Services, CA, USA.
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cavness
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Phelps
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D010356:Patient Isolation; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000193:education*; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D012308:Risk Management