Using trauma informed care as a nursing model of care in an acute inpatient mental health unit: A practice development process

Abstract

Without agreeing on an explicit approach to care, mental health nurses may resort to problem focused, task oriented practice. Defining a model of care is important but there is also a need to consider the philosophical basis of any model. The use of Trauma Informed Care as a guiding philosophy provides a robust framework from which to review nursing practice. This paper describes a nursing workforce practice development process to implement Trauma Informed Care as an inpatient model of mental health nursing care. Trauma Informed Care is an evidence-based approach to care delivery that is applicable to mental health inpatient units; while there are differing strategies for implementation, there is scope for mental health nurses to take on Trauma Informed Care as a guiding philosophy, a model of care or a practice development project within all of their roles and settings in order to ensure that it has considered, relevant and meaningful implementation. The principles of Trauma Informed Care may also offer guidance for managing workforce stress and distress associated with practice change.

Towards relational recovery: Nurses’ practices with consumers and families with dependent children in mental health inpatient units

“…Nurses in the present study struggled to articulate and define the models of care within which they worked. Understanding the philosophical basis from which care is structured can aid in guiding and improving nursing practice (Isobel & Edwards ; McAllister & Moyle ), yet many existing models of care remain difficult to define (McAllister & Moyle ), and are non‐specific in their inclusion of families (Maddocks et al . ).…”

Describing the healthcare experiences and strategies of women survivors of violence

“…Fortunately, implications for trauma‐informed and sensitive practice are well established in existing literature (Reeves, ). However, challenged communication within healthcare teams (Isobel & Edwards, ), restrictions on providers' time and resources (Hall et al., ) and the unique, individual nature of traumatic experiences and trauma symptoms (Harris & Fallot, ) pose barriers to implementing trauma‐informed practices.…”

Nursing Education, Trauma and Care in the Intensive Care

“…The traumatic brain injury PBIS can be used to determine inaccurate perceptions about caring for patients with traumatic brain injury before educating and training nurses [2]. This paper described a nursing workforce practice development process to implement Trauma Informed Care as an inpatient model of mental health nursing care [3]. Trauma Informed Care is an evidence-based approach to care delivery that is applicable to mental health inpatient units; while there are differing strategies for implementation, there is scope for mental health nurses to take on Trauma Informed Care as a guiding philosophy, a model of care or a practice development project within all of their roles and settings in order to ensure that it has considered, relevant and meaningful implementation.…”

“…Trauma Informed Care is an evidence-based approach to care delivery that is applicable to mental health inpatient units; while there are differing strategies for implementation, there is scope for mental health nurses to take on Trauma Informed Care as a guiding philosophy, a model of care or a practice development project within all of their roles and settings in order to ensure that it has considered, relevant and meaningful implementation. The principles of Trauma Informed Care may also offer guidance for managing workforce stress and distress associated with practice change [3].…”