Development and Implementation of a Suicide Prevention Checklist to Create a Safe Environment.

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of patients are admitted to general hospitals for injuries sustained in suicide attempts and for assessment of their ongoing risk for suicide. However, clinical staff may lack knowledge and expertise in the provision of a safe environment for potentially suicidal patients. OBJECTIVE: In an effort to follow the Joint Commission's recommendations on the care of suicidal patients, a Suicide Prevention Interdisciplinary Task Force was created. The task force sought to design and implement a suicide checklist that would facilitate creation of a safe environment for potentially suicidal inpatients on nonpsychiatric units in a general hospital. METHODS: We describe the development and implementation of a Care of the Suicide and Self-Injury Patient Checklist and report on data derived from incident reports related to self-harm/suicide attempts over a 4-year period. We also report results of a Research Electronic Data Capture survey of nurses' feedback on the checklist. RESULTS: After implementation of the Care of the Suicide and Self-Injury Patient Checklist, a total of 47 incidents of patient self-injury were reported over 4 years on nonpsychiatric inpatient units at a large general hospital; only three sustained permanent or serious harm. The Research Electronic Data Capture survey revealed that 88% of responding nurses believed that the Care of the Suicide and Self-Injury Patient Checklist guided creation of a safe environment and 90% believed that it supported consistent practice. CONCLUSIONS: The Care of the Suicide and Self-Injury Patient Checklist contributed to the creation of a safe environment while caring for potentially suicidal patients on nonpsychiatric inpatient units and guided clinicians on the management of potentially self-injurious individuals.

Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials That Evaluate the Effectiveness of Hospital-Initiated Postdischarge Interventions on Hospital Readmission.

Under pressure to avoid readmissions, hospitals are increasingly employing hospital-initiated postdischarge interventions (HiPDI), such as home visits and follow-up phone calls, to help patients after discharge. This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of HiPDI on reducing hospital readmissions using a systematic review of clinical trials published between 1990 and 2014. We analyzed twenty articles on HiPDI (from 503 reviewed abstracts) containing 7,952 index hospitalizations followed for a median 3 months (range 1-24) after discharge for readmission. The two most common HiPDI included follow-up phone calls (n = 14, 70%) or home visits (n = 11, 55%); eighty-five percent (n = 17) of studies had multiple HiPDI. In meta-analysis, exposure to HiPDI was associated with a lower likelihood of readmission (odds ratio [OR], 0.8 [95% CI, 0.7-0.9]). Patients receiving ≥2 postdischarge home visits or ≥2 follow-up phone calls had the lowest likelihood of readmission (OR, 0.5 [95% CI, 0.4-0.8]). Hospital-initiated postdischarge interventions seem to have an effect on reducing hospital readmissions. Together, multiple home visits and follow-up phone calls may be the most effective HiPDI to reduce hospital readmission.