Ward Rounds on an Inpatient Unit from a Researcher, Patient and Clinician Perspective

In this week's podcast, Han is joined by Vanessa Yim, David Vilijoen and Lyn Roberts. Vanessa is a Clinical Psychologist who ran a project as part of their clinical psychology doctorate to improve a patient's experience of clinical team meetings in an adult inpatient setting. David is a consultant clinical psychologist within Oxford NHS foundation trust, where the study was conducted, and Lyn is a former patient from the ward who participated in the study.

In this weeks episode, we discuss:

  • The purpose of the study evaluating the ward rounds/clinical team meetings (CTMs) in an inpatient adult eating disorder ward, and the aims of this study.

  • The impact of meeting size and "strangers" attending from the clinical team which could be improved by named nurses and meeting agendas to support decision-making for treatment formulation.

  • The importance of acknowledging a patients stage of recovery, medical and physical conditions, motivation and ambivalence when formulating treatment plans and engaging in shared decision-making with patients.

  • The impact COVID restrictions had on ward rounds in terms of impersonality.

  • The importance of trust between the clinical team and patients in order to achieve the best formulation for a treatment plan which can be complicated by the ED voice.

  • The importance of language used by the clinical team to reduce the power imbalance that can be observed by patients.

  • The importance of having benchmarks in place for requests whilst on an in-patient ward, and the pros and cons of having individualised vs group benchmarks.

Please note that this podcast discusses eating disorder topics that some individuals may find triggering. Please check in with yourself along the way, and remember this is not a replacement for clinical support and advice.

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