Implementation Plan

Improving the Staffing Structure at an Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Facility

The acute inpatient psychiatric unit provides care to individuals with severe mental illness. This vulnerable population can present with behavioral challenges and comorbid medical conditions that can complicate their care and create risks to safety. Staffing on the inpatient unit must support safe and effective therapeutic care that meets the holistic needs of patients served. The optimal environment to provide safe, effective care is one that fosters a culture of learning, compassion, and accountability to performance standards and evidence-based practices. Through research and identification of facility-specific concerns, best practices have been identified to foster an environment that supports high quality therapeutic patient-centered care. Improving nursing leadership and structuring staffing to meet the needs of the patient population are two key components of this proposed plan. Specifically, increasing the ratio of RNs on day and evening shift and adding a Nurse Manager to the leadership structure. Creation of a nursing hierarchy that includes a Nurse Manager will provide the necessary leadership to promote team cohesion, support a learning culture and maintain accountability to quality standards. Additionally, this plan utilizes a milieu manager to ensure a robust teaching-learning, professional and recovery-focused therapeutic environment.

Implementation Tools

Performance Improvement Initiative Presentation for Nurses

Importance of Documentation in Nursing Training