Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2023 - 9

FROM EXPERIENCE / ROUNDS
Mandt training. Adopted by Children's
Mercy Kansas City in 2019, the Mandt
System is a behavioral health crisis interaction
training program that promotes
prevention, de-escalation and intervention
approaches to decrease workplace violence.
During BHRIT, over 600 staff were trained.
The training primarily focused on caring
for patients in continuous observations
and responding to Code Strongs, the behavioral
health escalation response team, to
prevent staff and patient injuries.
Education. The workgroup launched
foundational behavioral health education
for all clinical staff. This education was
mandatory for clinical staff during the
BHRIT sprint and is now embedded into the
hospital's annual mandatory education.
Soothing stations. The workgroup created
stations filled with items designed
to help patients self-regulate. Some items
targeted the senses with a variety of
textures and smells, and others provided
distraction with sounds or visual effects.
Staff support
The staff support group identified staff
safety concerns. They also created several
new documentation tools to identify risks
and improve processes and strategies to
reduce violent situations:
Escalation assessment and prevention
tool. This is completed upon admission
with the patient and family to identify
risk factors for escalation and strategies
to de-escalate the patient.
Observer handoff tool. Used by the
observer sitting in the room with the
patients, this provides a structured way to
document any information on the patient
that may better serve the observer.
Behavioral health observation tool.
This breaks down behaviors into green,
yellow and red zones and provides staff
ideas on how to de-escalate the patient
based on observed behaviors.
Behavior information note. A note
tracks staff injuries in the electronic
medical record. This ensures staff can see
historic trends and be better prepared in
the care of a particular patient regardless
of where the patient presents for care.
Lastly, the workgroup helped make
available to staff behavioral personal
protective equipment. This equipment
helps prevent injuries to the hands, arms
and head, and includes head coverings,
cut-resistant gloves, padded forearm
sleeves and Kevlar sleeves.
The entire behavioral health rapid
improvement team sprint resulted in a
33% reduction in the frequency of staff
injuries in the inpatient areas, a 78%
reduction in the use of violent physical
restraints, a 14% reduction in the
use of intramuscular pharmacological
restraints, and an 11% reduction in the
risk for patient self-harm in the inpatient
setting. Overall, it also reduced the severity
of staff injuries.
Abby Moog, M.S.W., LSCSW, LCSW,
ACM-SW, is the social work manager
of the emergency department and
afterhours social work team; and Ingrid
Larson, DNP, MBA, APRN, NEA-BC, is
the vice president of Kansas Operations
and associate chief nursing officer,
Children's Mercy Kansas City.
Tell your hospital's story. Email
magazine@childrenshospitals.org.
IN BRIEF
ADMINISTRATOR NEWS
Akron Children's named
Gordon Edwards chief financial
officer and Carole Ettinger
vice president of information
services.
MUSC Shawn Jenkins
Children's Hospital named
Jessica Johnson chief
operating officer.
Niswonger Children's Hospital
named Christopher Jett chief
executive officer.
Oklahoma Children's Hospital
OU Health named Stefanie
Beavers chief nursing officer.
Omaha Children's Hospital &
Medical Center named Pam
Johnson-Carlson senior vice
president and chief nursing
officer.
Riley Children's Health named
John Harding chief operating
officer.
The Royal Children's Hospital
named Kathryn Riddell-Bridge
executive director of nursing,
Allied Health, and chief
nursing officer.
Seattle Children's named
Jamie Phillips chief operating
officer.
St. Joseph's Children's
Hospital named Sowmya
Viswanathan vice president
and chief medical officer.
Share an update. Email magazine
@childrenshospitals.org.
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Winter 2023
9
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Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2023

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