Optimizing Patient Safety in an Adult Psychiatric Unit

Abstract

Patient safety is a critical component of healthcare delivery, particularly in adult psychiatric units. The prevalence of incidences of patient harm suggests that patient safety within adult psychiatric units is still a public health issue. The purpose of this thesis was to describe the measures used to optimize patient safety in an adult psychiatric unit using a literature review.

The methodological guidelines for the review were followed systematically in stages including data search, inclusion and exclusion, data selection, and data analysis. The electronic databases, PubMed, CINAHL and Google Scholar were used for literature search, having formulated the Keywords, “optimization”, “patient safety”, and “adult psychiatric unit”.

The findings revealed that the measures used to optimize patient safety in an adult psychiatric unit include monitoring and assessment, medication administration, infection control, and fall prevention. It is necessary to conduct further research on how to reduce the risk of hospital-associated infections while restraining adult psychiatric patients.