Hospital safety initiative targets behavioral health unit: falls committee takes careful look at geropsych issues.(Overlook Hospital, Summit, New Jersey)

Publication: Healthcare Risk Management

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The behavioral health department may not be the first place you would look to launch a patient safety initiative, but the team at Overlook Hospital in Summit, NJ, is expecting just such an undertaking to yield big dividends.

Two years ago, the hospital's falls committee and a targeted subcommittee began examining the global issue of falls prevention in behavioral health as well as more specific gerontology psychology, or "geropsych" considerations.

What caused Overlook to point its patient safety efforts in this direction? "There were two things," recalls Tina Maund, RN, MS, director of performance improvement. "We had had some issues with patient falls specifically, and we also have a growing geropsych population."

Patient injuries in behavioral health units, Maund explains, can be medication-related, or they can involve behavioral issues such as attention-getting actions. "Then, there are other usual fall factors, such as slippery floors," she adds.

"Rugs, equipment, and cords can also play a role," notes Linda K. Kosnik RN, MSN, chief nursing officer.

Unique considerations

While patient falls in particular are a natural consideration of those concerned with safety, this initiative also had to take into consideration the unique characteristics of the patient population.

"It came onto our radar screen because it is one of the...

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