March 13, 2008 There is a wealth of information in graphs mentioned in the e-book “Metrics and Art of Psychiatry”. This graph measures the Average level of an inpatient unit. What does this graph say?
Why did the Graph bottom out? What is the significance of Average level ?
The graph bottomed out because the staff did not have a community meeting therefore no levels were recorded that day. This led to a meeting with the weekend staff. They were unaware of the significance of this measure. The levels were recorded daily after this date. This example shows that staff’s participation and acceptance of the Treatment team’s approach is essential to management of the unit.
The Average level should be around 2.0. Why ? Patients at Level 2 or above are cooperative and not considered at risk. The Average level above 2 indicates that overall unit functioning is at safe levels and staffing need not be increased. New activities and staff can be introduced. When the average Level falls below 2 the staff should have a meeting and discuss approaches to address the issues that are keeping the level low. “All staff are on deck”, means that every staff member should be present in community meeting and should identify patient that need extra assistance. This approach allows one to avoid unit’s deterioration and crises.
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