Editor,
We have learned that grabbing a four-point restrained, medicated mental health patient by the chin and telling her that she has “lost her rights and privileges” is considered an acceptable treatment modality and is legal in Island County.
Verdict aside, the evidence and testimonies presented during this trial beg the question of why this fiasco happened in the first place.
It is important to understand that any violent or nonviolent abuse of a mental health patient by a health care professional is a symptom of a deeper problem. When health professionals are not familiar with the plethora of mental health presentations, symptoms are not recognized and a patient may suffer even more because of the undereducated caregiver’s inappropriate action, inaction or reaction.
Our island witnessed first-hand what happens when a clinically inexperienced hospital nursing administrator attempts to intervene for a mental health symptom with which she is under-skilled. Additionally, “cookbook” interventions do not work well with the mentally ill since this population is intrinsically unique in that they live within the boundaries of their psychiatric disorder.
The mental health care crisis is not a situation that hospitals can “pawn off” to another entity or ignore, hoping it will go away. Continuing mental health care budget cuts are forcing non-psychiatric health care facilities to absorb this added responsibility.
Hospitals “housing” detained mental health patients has proven to be a frustrating adjustment for many ill-prepared hospital staff. Because of this delay in psychiatric treatment, a patient’s symptoms often escalate, creating a perfect storm for abuse as the caregiver attempts to maintain control over their charge.
Because the root of a professional’s toxic interventions is due to a knowledge deficit, every in-patient facility should be required to provide appropriate mental health education and training to all professional and para-professional employees.
Nonpsychiatric hospital administrators have a responsibility to recognize and acknowledge that challenges of mental health care in “their” facility are here to stay. They have a duty to effectively accommodate the mental health patient until transfer to a psychiatric hospital is obtained.
Whidbey General Hospital employs many conscientious, ethical and highly skilled bedside professionals who are eager to affect this change. All they need is a responsible and accountable administration to support this essential patient care–centered educational need.
As a public district and critical access hospital, it’s my expectation that WGH’s administrators will honor their responsibility to our community and their employees by viewing this event as a transformative opportunity to effectively shelter mental health patients who are admitted under the Involuntary Treatment Act.
Patricia Nathan-Ulloa, RN
Coupeville
