Code De-Escalation: Decreasing restraint use during agitation management in a community hospital emergency department.

INTRODUCTION: Restraint use in the emergency department (ED) can pose significant risks to patients and health care workers. We evaluate the effectiveness of Code De-escalation- a standardized, team-based approach for management and assessment of threatening behaviors- in reducing physical restraint use and workplace violence in a community ED. METHODS: A retrospective observational study of a pathway on physical restraint use among patients placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold in a community ED. This pathway includes a built-in step for the team members to systematically assess perceptions of threats from the patient behavior and threats perceived by the patient. Our primary outcome was the change in the rate of physical restraint use among patients on an involuntary psychiatric hold. Our secondary outcome was the change in the rate of workplace violence events involving all ED encounters. We evaluated our outcomes by comparing all encounters in a ten-month period before and after implementation, and compared our results to rates at neighboring community hospitals within the same hospital network. RESULTS: Pre intervention there were 434 ED encounters involving a psychiatric hold, post-intervention there were 535. We observed a significant decrease in physical restraint use, from 7.4% to 3.7% (ARR 0.028 [95% CI 0.002-0.055], p < 0.05). This was not seen at the control sites. CONCLUSIONS: A standardized de-escalation algorithm can be effective in helping ED's decrease their use of physical restraints in management of psychiatric patients experiencing agitation.

Refinement of an Emergency Department-Based, Advance Care Planning Intervention for Nurses.

Background: Most older adults visit the emergency department (ED) near the end of life without advance care planning (ACP) and thus are at risk of receiving care that does not align with their wishes and values. ED GOAL is a behavioral intervention administered by ED clinicians, which is designed to engage seriously ill older adults in serious illness conversations in the ED. Seriously ill older adults found it acceptable in the ED. However, its potential to be used by nurses remains unclear. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify refinements to adapt an ED-based ACP intervention by eliciting the perspectives of nurses. Design: This is a qualitative study using semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using axial coding methods. Setting/Subjects: We recruited a purposeful sample of ED nurses in one urban academic ED and one urban community ED in the northeastern region of the United States. Results: Twenty-five nurses were interviewed (mean age 46 years, 84% female, and mean clinical experience of 16 years). Emerging themes were identified within six domains: (1) nurses' prior experience with serious illness conversations, (2) overall impression of ED GOAL, (3) refinements to ED GOAL, (4) implementation of ED GOAL by ED nurses, (5) specially trained nursing model, and (6) use of telehealth with ED GOAL. Conclusions: ED nurses were generally supportive of using ED GOAL and provided insight into how to best adapt and implement it in their clinical practice. Empirical evidence for adapting ED GOAL to the nursing practice remains to be seen.

Bolstering clinician resilience through an interprofessional, web-based nightly debriefing program for emergency departments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has instigated significant changes for health care systems. With clinician burnout rising, efforts to promote clinician resilience are essential. Within this quality improvement project, an interprofessional debriefing program (Brigham Resilience in COVID-19-pandemic Emergency Forum-BRIEF) was developed within two emergency departments (EDs). An interprofessional group of ED providers led optional, nightly debriefings using a web-based portal to connect with ED clinicians for six weeks. In total, 81 interprofessional staff participated in nightly debriefings with a 47% attendance rate. On average, three participants attended the BRIEF nightly (range = 2-8) to discuss the challenges of social distancing, scarce resources, high acuity, clinician burnout and mental health. Participation increased as rates of COVID-19 positive patients rose. Debriefing leaders provided ED leadership with summaries of clinician experiences and suggestions for improvements. Feedback supported quality improvement initiatives within the ED and greater mental health support for staff. Clinicians and administrators provided positive feedback regarding the program's impact on clinician morale, and clinical processes that promoted the safety and quality of patient care. Optional debriefing with receptive departmental leadership may be a successful tool to support clinicians and hospitals during critical events.