Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Mary Verklan

Abstract

Childhood trauma is the primary reason children and adolescents display behavioral issues that require hospitalization. Implementation of a trauma-€informed care (TIC) program was the intervention chosen at a child and adolescent behavioral health hospital to decrease physical holds and seclusion rates for patients aged 3 to 17 and to reduce the risk of retraumatization of children needing psychiatric care. Six core strategies from the National Association of Mental Health Program Directors was the framework for this project. The number of crisis interventions before and after implementation were 440 and 259, respectively. The number of seclusions before implementation was 215, and total number of restraints was 225. The number of seclusions after implementation was 125, and total number of restraints was 134. Data showed that implementing a TIC program decreased the use of physical holds and seclusions by 26% within 6 months of program implementation. The implications of this project for positive social change include changing the approach to children with high-€risk behaviors by decreasing the risk for retraumatization.

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