Thursday November 1, 2007
Task Force Subcommittee Hears Presentations on DPC Overtime, Job Vacancies and Process for Reporting Allegations of Patient Abuse and Neglect
Wilmington – A Task Force subcommittee charged with reviewing overtime and personnel issues at the Delaware Psychiatric Center (DPC) heard testimony Wednesday from top DHSS officials and staff on issues ranging from overtime, job vacancies, training and the process for reporting allegations of patient abuse and neglect.
Subcommittee 2 of the Governor’s Task Force on the Delaware Psychiatric Center, lead by Kevin Ann Huckshorn of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, heard first from DHSS Cabinet Secretary Vincent P. Meconi on the primary causes of overtime at the DPC.
Meconi cited 1 to 1 supervision of staff to patients who may pose a threat to themselves or others as the primary driver of overtime. He cited employees who don’t report to work because of illness, disability, FMLA or military leave as another.
Ms. Huckshorn noted that 1 to 1 supervision is costly and suggested that its use should reviewed daily, not weekly as is the current practice at DPC. She noted that a more frequent review process that includes the ordering physician, the hospital director, and director of nurses could possible reduce the number of people on 1 to 1 supervision and facilitate their return to regular treatment activities or the use of less restrictive procedures.
Subcommittee members were then briefed on DPC training procedures. Nursing orientation packets were provided to the members, who were told that orientation is a two day process with regularly required updates. Additional professional development training is made available to the staff through a comprehensive catalog of courses and scheduling arrangements are made through nursing supervisors so staff can attend. The committee members also learned that attendants who want to become nurses, are provided with time and monetary compensation to do so.
Director of the Division for Substance Abuse and Mental Health, Renata Henry discussed job vacancies at the DPC with the committee members. She said they are actively hiring to fill approximately 89 vacancies; thirteen of which are for registered nurses. Ms. Henry also noted that as part of DPC’s move toward a recovery model that many nursing attendant positions were recently reclassified as Activity Therapists to reflect the Division’s move toward encouraging active treatment for patients.
One area that committee members expressed concern over was the lack of clarity in the role of Unit Director at the DPC. In the current system, staff nurses and nursing attendants may report both to a Unit Director and/or to Charge Nurses, creating confusion. Ms. Henry said she agreed that the chain of command and communication lines on the units needs to be addressed and would welcome any recommendations regarding that issue.
Finally, Performance Improvement Unit (PIU) Incident Investigator, Ken Creasey, walked the Committee through the process for reporting patient abuse and neglect at the DPC. All incidents are required to be reported immediately to the Psychiatric Center’s PIU and more serious allegations are also required to be reported to the State’s Division of Long Term Care. Committee members noted that the reporting system appears to contain a good number of checks and balances.
Committee member Yvonne Stringfield asked how long the investigations of these incidents take to complete. Creasy replied that while some take only a few days, others take much longer. Their goal is to complete all in a 30 day window of time, however that’s not always possible due to event prioritization and the current shortage of staff in that department.
Committee member Dennis Rochford asked how many employees are in the unit and how many they would like to have. Due to recent departures, Creasy said there are down 2.5 staff members and are orienting a new risk manager. He said, in his opinion, that three full time investigators would meet the current need for timely investigations.
Members of the public were then invited to ask questions or provide comment. Questions ranged from the need to collect race information on the incident report forms, to how to best get the word out about job vacancies, to support for the current administrations efforts to get better pay for staff in an attempt to recruit more nurses.
The next subcommittee meeting scheduled is for Subcommittee 1, on November 6th from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. The meeting is set to be held in Room 301 of the Main Administration building of the Herman Holloway Social Services Campus.
Members of the public are invited to attend, and are urged to continue checking the DPC Task Force website for updates. The website is available at www.dpctaskforce.delaware.gov.
Governor Minner created the nine-member DPC Task Force on August 17 to examine opportunities for continued improvement at the DPC. The group is charged with reviewing key areas of the DPC and its operations and making recommendations regarding hiring procedures, training, professional development opportunities for staff, and potential designs for a new facility.
The Task Force is due to make recommendations to Governor Minner no later than December 15, 2007.
|
