Sarah Hewins and Charlotte Hull, from NHS Arden & GEM’s Clinical Support team, have had an article published in Mental Health Practice on developing a thematic ward atmosphere tool.
Published by the Royal College of Nursing’s subsidiary, RCNi, the monthly Mental Health Practice journal features clinical articles to help mental health nurses keep their practice up to date.
Sarah Hewins, Clinical Lead Nurse, and Charlotte Hull, Senior Clinical Manager, are both experienced mental health professionals working within Arden & GEM’s Clinical Support team. The peer reviewed article covers their experience of developing a thematic ward atmosphere tool to improve staff and patient wellbeing in acute mental health settings.
The atmosphere on inpatient mental health wards has a crucial role in the overall wellbeing of staff and patients. Several studies have sought to understand the factors that contribute to the atmosphere of a ward and how they can be measured. As part of a wider initiative looking at the complexity of one of its mental health wards, staff at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust wanted to develop a ward atmosphere tool that could meaningfully support its staff and patients.
The Mental Health Practice article discusses how elements of existing tools and best practice were combined with an understanding of the ward’s characteristics to create a new conversation-led tool to meet the needs of the whole ward. Designed for use in daily safety huddles, the tool directly addresses challenges on the ward and supports national and trust-level clinical policies to improve the experience of staff and patients.
Subscribers to Mental Health Practice can access the article here to:
- understand how the ward atmosphere in acute mental health settings can influence patient outcomes
- enhance their knowledge of factors that can contribute to a positive ward atmosphere
- find out about a new conversation-led tool that directly addresses challenges on mental health wards to improve the experience of staff and patients.