New Gold Coast trial of mental health nurses proving to benefit patients

A new trial using mental health nurses in one of the busiest departments at the Gold Coast’s biggest hospital has yielded incredible results.

MENTAL health nurses are on the front line in emergency care as a calming presence in one of Gold Coast Health’s most stressful and under pressure departments.

A Queensland-first program has introduced mental health nurses from the Alcohol and Other Drugs Service (AODS) into Gold Coast emergency departments to reduce demand and assist patients in need of rapid and compassionate mental care.

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Clinical nurse consultants Sue Wentworth and Kim Lappin are mental health nurses at the Gold Coast University Hospital. Picture: Jerad Williams

After just a few weeks, the trial has helped streamline the right care for each patient and reduced length of stay in emergency departments at the Gold Coast University and Robina hospitals.

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Average wait time at the GCUH emergency department has decreased by a few minutes on last year to half an hour, while the number of patients treated in the recommended time has increased 5 per cent.

For mental health nurses Sue Wentworth and Kim Lappin, the job ranges from soothing distressed patients to keeping watch for major mental health issues.

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Compassion and patience are at the heart of our Clinical nurse consultants Kim Lappin and Sue Wentworth, mental health nurses. Picture: Jerad Williams

Both passionate and experienced, they see their work as vital in emergency departments because of the pressures in dealing with increased substance abuse and growing mental health problems.

“When people arrive to the emergency department there is a huge amount of anxiety and many are quite unwell,” Ms Lappin said.

“Our role it to meet and greet, triage and do a mental health assessment so we can include or rule out mental condition.

“A big part of the role is also educating patients on what is happening to them, and advocating on their behalf.”

The AODS mental health nurses manage care and look out for potential emotional breakdowns. Picture: Jerad Williams

The AODS mental health nurses manage care and look out for potential emotional breakdowns.

“It is underestimated by the public how much of health is teamwork. This program means all staff are aware of potential mental health issues before they are admitted,” Ms Lappin said.

For Ms Wentworth, the aim of the game is to “de-escalate’’ and allow patients to be treated faster.

“There is a whole gamut of things we do. We have a whole number of substances being used and people can be aggressive or verbally abusive so we try to de-escalate,” she said.

But Ms Wentworth said not everyone they treated was under the influence.

Patients sought help for a wide range of reasons.

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“It is quite broad — not just psychotic episodes, but things like suicide risks and other concerns,’’ she said.

“Mental health is still a medical issue so it needs to be addressed.”

Associate Professor David Green, medical director of emergency at Gold Coast Health, said

the service continued to perform well with elective surgery, despite increasing demand.

“The collaborative research we’re doing within the ED will be key to helping us manage demand into the future and initiatives like the rapid response trial are a great example of how we’re thinking outside the box to do this.”