The new ‘Safe in Care, Safe at Work’ toolkit is designed to benefit people in care and the staff who care for them in Australian mental health services.
It was produced by the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (AMCHN) and funded and supported by the National Mental Health Commission.
Least restrictive practice has long been a focus and aspiration in mental health care, and is framed as an indicator of care quality in mental health settings.
The desire to achieve least restrictive practice is reflected in policies, guidelines and other guiding documents in place locally, nationally and internationally.
The ACMHN recognises there have been significant changes in the use of restrictive practices, but states more still needs to be done.
Enhancing safety for staff, particularly nursing staff, is a crucial aspect of achieving further reductions in the use of seclusion and restraint.
The ‘Safe in Care, Safe at Work’ toolkit recognises the unique contribution of nurses to the provision of mental health services across Australia.
It has been designed to complement national and state guidelines and frameworks, and to support an overall strategy to create safer therapeutic environments for consumers and to eliminate seclusion and restraint in mental health services.
ACMHN President Professor Eimear Muir-Cochrane said it was crucial that people feel safe as recipients of healthcare when using mental health services, and it was equally as important for staff to feel safe in their work environment.
“We hope that this toolkit will assist health services in the development of a work plan to equip services, managers and nurses with a range of options to create safer services and to support nurses feeling safe,” she said.
The College states that use of restrictive practices such as seclusion and restraint are traumatic for staff and consumers and are acknowledged as failures in care.
Consistent re-examination of approaches to safety in the provision of mental health service, along with recognition and promotion of strategies that support nurses to feel and be safer at work, will help build confidence around early recognition, intervention and de-escalation, and will support nurse leaders to meet environmental, systemic and service goals around seclusion and restraint reduction.
The package includes:
- An audit toolkit for services
- The Australian adaptation of the Six Core Strategies checklist
- A list of guiding documents to reduce seclusion and restraint.
