UNCH 2020 Nursing Annual Report - 21

A Letter From Dr. Madigan
Special Feature
Magnet® Stories
Staff Recognition Awards
Accomplishments
Magnet® Stories
The addition
of these beds
increased our
overall treatment
spaces to 109 (67
medical and 42
behavioral health).
Operational Efficiency facilitated a 2P event to
model operations in 2-D and 3-D mock-ups. This
included mocking up key full-scale areas such
as patient rooms using cardboard so the team
could make decisions on placement of furniture,
equipment, and supplies. Once the unit design
was complete, an Operational Steering Committee
and four workstreams were developed. The
workstreams were charged with addressing
overall process/flow, behavioral health-specific
processes/needs, equipment, and staffing.
The EDTU opened on the Ground Floor of
Neuroscience Hospital in September 2020. This
36-bed expansion of the Emergency Department
consists of 12 dedicated behavioral health beds,
12 dedicated medical beds, and 12 beds which
can be flexed or transitioned between patient
populations as needed. The addition of these
beds increased our overall treatment spaces to
109 (67 medical and 42 behavioral health).
Further, the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam, or SAFE
suite, was opened as part of the EDTU space. The
SAFE suite provides a private space for patients of
sexual violence to be interviewed, have evidence
collected, and needed care provided. The Sexual
Assault Nurse Examiner program provides care for
an estimated 100-120 adults and children annually.
The opening of EDTU has been beneficial to
more than patients presenting with behavioral
health complaints, but this patient population and
staff have expressed much appreciation since
opening. Program manager Paul Morea, LCSW
and medical director Angela Strain, MD agree that
the space has provided a safer environment for
patients to move around, congregate, and have
access to sunlight. EDTU has provided the ability
to cohort, stabilize, and separate our patient
population who present with growing diversity in
demographics (e.g., age), clinical presentations,
and acuity.
Additionally, the design allows clinicians the
flexibility to work in open group areas or more
isolated areas, which have moved the efficiency
and productivity in a positive direction. More
importantly, our patients and their caregivers
have recognized a difference. The mother of
one child, who has had several behavioral health
presentations to the ED, voiced that the EDTU
Behavioral Health area is " leaps and bounds
better " for her child than other ED areas. This
feedback is evidence that the EDTU is meeting the
needs of some of our most vulnerable patients.
2020 Nursing Annual Report | 21
UNCH 2020 Nursing Annual Report

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