Blessing Health System caregivers focus on the bond of the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of a person when restoring them to their best health.
On 2 North at Blessing Hospital, caregivers understand the bond and work to make it stronger.
Patients with behavioral health issues frequently have physical health issues that need care simultaneously. The issues could be the result of a chronic illness, such as diabetes, or related to substance use disorder or a failed suicide attempt.
Whatever a behavioral patient’s acute medical need, standards of care say they cannot be admitted to a behavioral unit until their medical need is stabilized. This can take anywhere from a few days to more than a week. At Blessing Hospital, those patients are admitted to 2 North.
In health care as in all aspects of life, time is precious, from treating someone for a heart attack or stroke to addressing behavioral needs. 2 North staff understand that, too.
“If we wait to start moving those wheels (behavioral care), patients can get anxious,” said Kristen Inman, RN, 2 North. “They start thinking about what their stay in the behavioral unit will be like. They can overthink that.”
“And depending on why a patient is medically unstable, say it is an overdose or suicide attempt, therapy needs to begin quickly. Patients need that support,” she continued.
Kristen has lived this experience. She was a psych tech at Blessing before earning her nursing degree.
So 2 North has begun a program through which behavioral patients can meet regularly with a psychiatrist and social worker while they are being medically stabilized. These patients also have a full-time “psych sitter” and other special accommodations in their rooms for their safety while on 2 North.
“I have had a patient who said she was very grateful we took the time to make sure she was safe and that we did a wonderful job talking to her,” Kristen reported.
Kristen believes other members of 2 North feel as she does, that having the opportunity to care for different patient populations is an opportunity, not a challenge.
“I love having the opportunity to take care of behavioral patients and medical patients at the same time,” she said. “I was a psych tech and I thought I wanted to be a behavioral nurse. I find that I enjoy both worlds.”
“As a psych tech, I gained the skill of developing a relationship with a patient, talking them through what they are experiencing,” Kristen concluded. “It’s not all giving pills. It’s human to human. I love that and I am good at it.”
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