Emergency care of victims of violence developed at HUS – new care chain brings clarity and support
The Emergency Departments of Peijas, Jorvi and Meilahti have introduced a new care model that improves the treatment of patients who have experienced violence. The model is aimed at ensuring a uniform practice for recognizing violence, examining the patients and referring them to support services. A practical and clear operating model ensures that everyone who has experienced violence receives the support they need, regardless of which emergency department they visit.
“The instructions drawn up for the emergency departments make it easier to recognize violence, improve the documentation of the injuries and ensure that support is provided even after the visit to the emergency department. Particular attention has been paid to the patient experience and to encountering vulnerable patients”, says Associate Professor Johanna Uittamo, a physician and dentist specialized in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
The new care chain improves the quality and continuity of care
The new care chain clarifies the treatment of patients who have experienced violence and their referral to further treatment. The care chain focuses on recognizing violence, encountering the patient, recording the injuries and organizing further treatment – ensuring that not a single patient is left alone.
Uittamo and Elisa Hackenberg, a specialist in orthopedics and traumatology, have played a key role in the development of the care chain. Their work has been supported by a team of their own consisting of nurses and representatives of different specialties from the Meilahti Emergency Department. The team has prepared guidelines for the management and the staff in order to support consistency in activities at the emergency department.
The team has provided the staff with training and tools for documenting the injuries, recording entries in the patient records and conducting examinations. Careful documentation is important not only for the treatment but also from the point of view of the patient’s legal protection – each recorded injury may be relevant in criminal proceedings.
A clear operating model reduces staff's workload
The aim of the new operating model has also been to reduce the workload and ethical stress caused by tough patient encounters. Clear practices facilitate work and enable members of staff to feel that they can genuinely help in a difficult situation.
“Even tough encounters can become a resource if your own role is clear and you are able to help. The staff have understood the importance of the project, and it has been implemented in close cooperation between the units and the professionals,” says Hackenberg, whose doctoral dissertation dealt with domestic violence.
Information about support services compiled on the HUS website
A website with the contact details of third-sector actors has been set up on the HUS website (www.hus.fi/tukea, in Finnish). A business card with a link to the website is available for patients at the emergency department.