Description: This webinar will address the common themes of treating behavioral health patients in the acute care setting: communication, assessment, response, culture and role of leadership. Patients with co-morbid medical and mental health issues have difficulty with the traditional style of care on medical units. Oftentimes, medical staff have difficulty managing the behavioral components of those with mental health issues. The webinar will look at safety protocols, de-escalation training and retraining for staff as well as understanding how staff behavior can escalate or de-escalate a situation. We will discuss how the patient’s perception of the treatment or communication may not be what is intended.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this presentation the participant will be able to:

1. Identify gaps in your staff training leading to behavioral health incidents
2. Gain awareness related to early assessment of behavioral health needs
3. Identify strategies to improve practices around meeting the behavioral health needs of patients’ in acute care settings
4. Become familiar with the top 10 de-escalation strategies and self-awareness for reduced risk of staff and patient violence.
5. Identify environmental risks to behavioral health patient and staff safety inherent in acute care.

NANCY NAPOLITANO, BS, PCHA – Patient Safety Analyst/ConsultantMental Health First Aid

Ms. Napolitano came to ECRI in 2015 with over 35 years of behavioral health experience in successful programming and collaboration for overall patient safety and satisfaction. Since coming to ECRI, Nancy has presented numerous times on Behavioral Health and Workplace Violence, Suicide and Safety for several of the member organizations of ECRI. Nancy has been a liaison to various health systems and outpatient practices. Prior to joining ECRI, she worked for 20 years managing inpatient and outpatient adult/ geriatric psychiatric programs within acute care hospitals in Suburban Philadelphia. A solid leader, Ms. Napolitano built cross-functional teams focused on internal and external patient/ resident focused quality, safety and customer satisfaction.

As a Senior Program Director, Ms. Napolitano served on many patient and employee hospital safety committees. As the behavioral health director within those organizations, she had the ability to implement positive changes on the behavioral health, medical floors and emergency departments to treat co-morbid conditions. Ms. Napolitano served as a Master Trainer for staff on violence prevention and de- escalation techniques and interventions as part of the Violence Prevention Program to increase awareness and reduce patient and staff harm throughout the organizations.

Cost: FREE for 2021 PAHQ members & $25 for non-members

Register here: https://pahq-q2-2021.eventbrite.com