Wellbeing Wednesdays: nurse-led clinic for improving physical health care in a general adolescent inpatient unit

Abstract

Background: Young people with mental illness are at high risk of physical health complications. Physical healthcare on a general adolescent inpatient unit is complex.

Aim: To establish a wellbeing clinic to improve efficiency and quality of the physical healthcare offered and increase health promotion.

Methods: Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycles were used to drive this quality-improvement project. The authors audited 12 records before establishing the clinic and 12 at three further time points (6, 18 and 30 months post-intervention) to guide changes.

Results: Results progressively improved over PDSA cycles. Time taken for initial investigations dropped. Compliance with medication monitoring and management of important physical health domains rose from zero in some cases to 100% in all but one area.

Conclusions: Establishing a dedicated physical health clinic in this setting is feasible and leads to improved performance against local and national standards. Mental health teams need to ensure physical health is prioritised.

Keywords: Adolescent mental health services; Health promotion; Mental health inpatient services; Nurse-led clinic; Service improvement.