Essay: Overview of the Consultation Process

Introduction and Overview of the Consultation Process One key concern in healthcare is management of change, which occurs continuously. Managing change is about handling the complexity of the process. It entails evaluating, planning and implementing new procedures, tactics and strategies and evaluating the relevance of the change. The purpose of change is to facilitate people to adopt new ways of doing things. In a healthcare setting, change promotes better practices and result in better patient outcomes. The purpose of this consultation is to identify the strengths and weaknesses within Central State Hospital [CSH], a state psychiatric facility and use the data to propose a change to improve a process that has been identified as ineffective. This consultation provides an overview of the strengths and weakness within the facility and development of a change process to improve patient outcomes. For this consultation process, I will explore any gaps and weaknesses in the organization that would impact negative patient care. Data will be collected through website review, patient assessment and nurse leader interview. Organizational Analysis-Description of Organization CSH, originally known as the Central Lunatic Asylum, is a state psychiatric hospital in Virginia dating back to 1870. In the 1950’s a Maximum Security Forensic Unit [MSFU] was built to evaluate and treat patients referred by the court systems. A geriatric treatment center was also built to serve the chronically ill and bedridden. Over the course of time, there were five treatment buildings constructed and four adult treatment buildings were built. The Civil Adult Treatment Programs at CSH provide services to patients over 18 years old ranging from short term, quick re-entry to the community and long term intensive treatment for the most seriously mentally ill, often turned away from for-profit hospitals. CSH is Virginia’s only Forensic Mental Health Unit serving patients involved in the criminal justice system.