LONG BEACH, Calif. — Staff training in implicit bias curbed racial disparities in the use of mechanical restraints at one Seattle hospital, a researcher reported.
From 2015-2017, about 13% of ethnic minority patients were restrained in the psychiatric units at Harborview Medical Center versus just over 8% of white patients, explained Timothy Meeks, MN, RN, the clinical director at Harborview.
After training began in 2017, the 2018-2020 numbers were about 9% for both groups, he said in a presentation at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) annual meeting.
“We’re very proud that we’ve been able to get more equity,” said Meeks, adding that Harborview began focusing on racial disparities in psychiatric care in 2016. The staff at the inpatient psychiatric unit is 43% white, 43% Black, and 7% Asian, he said.
He noted that, in general, “Black patients are diagnosed with schizophrenia more often than white patients with the same symptoms. Black individuals are less likely to receive newer antipsychotics than white patients. If a patient goes to the emergency room for a psychiatric evaluation, Black patients are more likely to be physically or chemically restrained than white patients.”
An analysis of Harborview data from 2012-2015 found that, among 4,506 total patients served in the psychiatric units, ethnic minorities were more likely to be:
- Mechanically restrained: 9% (n=241) for whites vs 13% for minorities (n=187, P
- Placed