CNS: Vital to the Team Developing an Innovative Way to Care for COVID-19+ Psychiatric Patients
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 at 10:40 AM–11:00 AM EST add to calendar
Podium
Topic of Interest
CNS Improving Outcomes
Role of CNS in COVID-19 Pandemic
Patient Populations
Interprofessional Collaboration
Role of CNS in COVID-19 Pandemic
Patient Populations
Interprofessional Collaboration
Abstract
- Title: CNS: Vital to the Team Developing an Innovative Way to Care for COVID-19+ Psychiatric Patients
- Significance & Background: In March 2020 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued blanket waivers in response to the emergency declaration related to the COVID-19 pandemic which, among other things, allows for care of acute psychiatric inpatients on the acute care unit of a hospital (CMS, 2020). This CMS waiver essentially allows for COVID-19 positive patients needing acute psychiatric admission to be admitted to an acute medicine unit if the acute psychiatric unit does not meet infection control needs.
- Evaluation Methods: To minimize delays in psychiatric care and longer lengths of stay due to the patient’s COVID-19 positive status and resulting admission to a COVID-19 medicine floor, inpatient psychiatry leadership consisting of the Unit Based Medical Director (UBMD), Patient Care Manager (PCM) and Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), developed a COVID-19+ Psychiatric Team to bring specialized psychiatric care to that patient located on the designated COVID-19 medicine unit. Through a series of meetings which included a Gemba on the designated COVID-19 medicine units the leadership group was able to develop a detailed plan to re-create inpatient psychiatric standards of care on the COVID-19 unit.
- Outcomes: The COVID-19+ Psychiatry Team consists of psychiatric nurses from the inpatient psychiatric units, an attending inpatient psychiatrist, a psychiatry resident, a Security Officer to prevent elopement for patients on involuntary holds, occupational therapists, and a psychologist to provide remote group therapy. The psychiatric CNS and PCM collaborate with their medicine counterparts to ensure the psychiatric staff have the necessary training and support around vital infection control practices. To date this team has been activated once to care for a patient requiring involuntary psychiatric admission.
- Implications: Inpatient psychiatric units lacking adequate infection control infrastructure may consider creating a team of psychiatric staff to provide psychiatric care to the COVID-19 positive patient needing acute psychiatric care admitted to a COVID-19 medicine unit under to the CMS waiver.
- This poster and/or individual podium presentation can be presented virtually without any limitations.
Primary Presenters
Jessica Frihart, MSN, CNS, RN-BC, Stanford Health Care
Co-Authors
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