Chatham-Kent Health Alliance has launched a new crisis prevention training program developed by its own staff, replacing a course previously delivered by an outside vendor.
The hospital says an internal review found an opportunity to use its own team’s expertise to build a more relevant and practical course. The training is for staff, physicians and volunteers. It debuted in May, has run smoothly and has received overwhelmingly positive feedback, according to the hospital. It will be delivered to the entire organization over the next several months, and all new hires will receive it during orientation.
The hospital worked with Bluewater Health, which uses a similar internal program. A task force with members from quality and risk management, organizational development, the mental health and addictions program, security, the scheduling resources office, occupational health and safety, and frontline nursing helped develop it.
Dan Saunders, manager of the mental health and addictions program, said the content was developed by Mark Roth and Aaron Bak from the crisis and security departments, whose daily work requires the skills taught.
“Our group of trainers is also multidisciplinary. Each brings a different perspective to the training and can share real-world examples from their experience. We need to be able to recognize that behaviour is often driven by emotions. Helping someone to identify and work through the emotions driving the behaviour allows staff to focus on prevention and de-escalation, rather than intervention. This will significantly increase both staff and patient safety,” Saunders said.
Bak said the training centres on empathy and active listening.
“It has been a great feeling and a great privilege collaborating with a good group of people to develop and implement this course,” Bak said. “A big part of this training revolves around empathy and active listening which translates directly to better patient care… I’m proud to be a part of a project that helps with everyone’s safety, security and patient-centred care.”
The hospital says the course uses practical, experience-based scenarios that staff in all departments can relate to, and that it supports patients, families and visitors by giving staff proactive communication and de-escalation skills.
