Adults on average require seven or more hours of sleep to promote optimal health. Watson et al. (2015) argues that less than seven hours of sleep is associated with depression and other mental illnesses. Harvard Health (2009) found about 50% to 80% of patients in psychiatric practice are affected by chronic sleep problems, compared to 10% to 18% percent of adults in the general population. Sleep problems are common in individuals diagnosed with depression, bipolar, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Lifestyle, behavioral and medication options improve the sleep quality of sleep-deprived patients. According to Mazer (2012) sleep disturbances such as …show more content…
Registered nurses (RNs) and mental health workers (MHWS) provide the physical and psychological of the patients 24 hours a day. Social workers conduct clinical assessments and coordinate patient discharge planning. Psychiatry medical staff members, including Psychiatric and Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), lead the treatment team and assess and diagnose patients daily. The emergency psychiatric observation unit is located within a large academic research medical facility. The cultural environment of the microsystem can have a positive or negative impact on the success of project. The following are strengths and weaknesses associated with the emergency psychiatric observation unit in relation to the identified clinical problem:
Strengths
1) Unit nurses expressed willingness to learn no interventions to enhance patient sleep and improve patient outcomes.
2) Sleep assessment is a standard assessment for nurses.
3) The unit managers support staff recommendations and suggestions for new protocols. …show more content…
Daily, the treatment team which consists of a Psychiatric or Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, Social Worker, Charge Nurse, and delegated pharmacy staff meets to discuss, plan, and evaluate patient treatment plans. In addition to daily treatment team meetings, there are monthly staff meetings and extensive communication that takes place via email and also on the unit’s bulletin. The Psychiatric Observation utilizes an electronic health record called EPIC. Epic (2017) is a health information exchange software system that includes an electronic patient health record. It contains records of more than 190 million patients around the world in various settings including hospitals, rehab centers, and independent practices. Using the Epic system, nurses are able to access data recorded by all interdisciplinary team members involved in patient care. A March 2017 study found that Epic helped improve outcomes in 50% of children with chronic conditions at one hospital by including a pre-visit plan (PVP) note that is available in Epic for all members of the patients’ care team to view. The note helped improve upon care coordination between physicians, nurses, mental health specialist, social workers and patient’s families. It also assisted in patients receiving timely