Effects of a Staff Training Intervention on Seclusion Rates on an Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Unit.

Abstract

The current article presents the effects of a 90-minute staff training intervention aimed at reducing inpatient psychiatric seclusion rates through strengthened staff commitment to seclusion alternatives and improved de-escalation skills. The intervention occurred at an 18-bed adult inpatient psychiatric unit whose seclusion rates in 2015 were seven times the national average. Although the project's primary outcome compared patient seclusion rates before and after the intervention, anonymous staff surveys measured several secondary outcomes. Seclusion rates were reduced from a 6-month pre-intervention average of 2.95 seclusion hours per 1,000 patient hours to a 6-month post-intervention average of 0.29 seclusion hours per 1,000 patient hours, a 90.2% reduction. Completed staff surveys showed significant staff knowledge gains, non-significant changes in staff attitudes about seclusion, non-significant changes in staff de-escalation skill confidence, and use of the new resource sheet by only 17% of staff. The key study implication is that time-limited, focused staff training interventions can have a measurable impact on reducing inpatient seclusion rates. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 56(6), 23-30.].