As a Mental Health Nurse of some 30 years practice I wish to
compliment Helen Kirkpatrick on her insightful article regarding the
primarily counter-therapeutic effects seclusion has in the overall
treatment of the mentally ill person.
As an RN working in a state run facility I can personally attest to a
horrible treatment plan that was referred to as "Voluntary Open Quiet
Room". During the cou...
As a Mental Health Nurse of some 30 years practice I wish to
compliment Helen Kirkpatrick on her insightful article regarding the
primarily counter-therapeutic effects seclusion has in the overall
treatment of the mentally ill person.
As an RN working in a state run facility I can personally attest to a
horrible treatment plan that was referred to as "Voluntary Open Quiet
Room". During the course of this treatment some of my patients were made
to stay in a seclusion room 'voluntarily' for up to a year at a time. If
the patient came out of the voluntary quiet room I and the other nurses
were told to call the doctor to obtain an order for either 4-points or
locked door seclusion.
My patients felt coerced and did not like this treatment plan. After
pleading with the administration on behalf of my patients to stop this
"illegal" treatment plan I had little choice but to empower my patients. I
contacted legal aid and was able to obtain a mental health lawyer who my
patients were able to personally communicate with on their own behalf.
Based on the patients complaints the lawyer in part made the
following summation to convince the Department of Mental Health to stop
this treatment plan:
1. Isolation inhibited the patients' access to treatment and may even
worsen their mental health.
2. The need to keep a patient safe should not require the patient to
forfeit fundamental aspect of care, including regular treatment, contact
with patients and staff and dignity. In fact, such forfeitures themselves
might make a patient to self-injure.
And so perhaps patients are right even legally in viewing that this
and similar plans as described in Ms Kirkpatrick article is not only
undesirable to patients but may prove to be a criminal act of punishment
against their person as well.
I was so glad when my daughter, also a nurse, found this piece of
research. I note with sadness the date - 2001.
I live in the wilds of Essex, at least 25 miles from the great
'metropolis'. Two years ago I had a vile stroke, so I no longer drive.
Recently 'they' noticed that I had AF and must start on anticoagulant
treatment instantly. There is a proudly "Nurse led Clinic" at a hospital
some h...
I was so glad when my daughter, also a nurse, found this piece of
research. I note with sadness the date - 2001.
I live in the wilds of Essex, at least 25 miles from the great
'metropolis'. Two years ago I had a vile stroke, so I no longer drive.
Recently 'they' noticed that I had AF and must start on anticoagulant
treatment instantly. There is a proudly "Nurse led Clinic" at a hospital
some half an hour away. It works well BUT the transport picks up patients
from all over Essex. Not only is one frequently collected two or three
hours before the clinic, but one has to wait for transport for several
hours AFTER the efficient 3 minute blood test.
The logistics of this are understandable, but I did begin to wonder why I
couldn't do the test myself, or at least go to the much nearer surgery. I
kept being told that one had to be 'specially trained'- or that the blood
test that was done in the ward was 'different' and needed venous blood - a
constant denial of the facts - nurses and doctors kept insisting on their
exclusive magical powers.
First we bought the kit - annoyingly expensive! The GP won't play
ball, though I keep meeting people who know of practices which are happy
to. Nor will the hospital clinic accept my readings - so far. I find the
Clinic visits exhausting and 'bad for my health', and I am by no means
among the most decrepit of some of the poor folk I travel with, and who
sit in wheel chairs waiting for transport.
As a professional who often pioneered small changes in Family Practice
which made things easier for our patients I am irritated by this failure
to take up simple changes in practice which benefit all of us.
Dear Editor,
As a Mental Health Nurse of some 30 years practice I wish to compliment Helen Kirkpatrick on her insightful article regarding the primarily counter-therapeutic effects seclusion has in the overall treatment of the mentally ill person.
As an RN working in a state run facility I can personally attest to a horrible treatment plan that was referred to as "Voluntary Open Quiet Room". During the cou...
Dear Editor,
I was so glad when my daughter, also a nurse, found this piece of research. I note with sadness the date - 2001.
I live in the wilds of Essex, at least 25 miles from the great 'metropolis'. Two years ago I had a vile stroke, so I no longer drive. Recently 'they' noticed that I had AF and must start on anticoagulant treatment instantly. There is a proudly "Nurse led Clinic" at a hospital some h...