Mental Health Procedures Reflection | Report

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH PROCEDURES: REFLECTION
MENTAL HEALTH PROCEDURES: REFLECTION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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MENTAL HEALTH PROCEDURES: REFLECTION
Introduction
Mental health care is one of the crucial factors which focuses on the well being and the
positive health outcome of the patient regarding the mental and physical condition. Thus, the
mental health practitioner should focus on the effective analysis and the proper health care
standards for the maintenance of the care practice in the positive direction. Based on this context,
I can state that the assessment and the evaluation along with the care procedure of the mental
health care professional should be re-analysed for the future improvement of the care procedure.
Thus, reflecting on the practice is very much required. In this context, I can find the documented
malpractices of the mental health care facility of Townsville Hospital 10B psychiatry department
and based on the audio visual document I can reflect and develop the competence of the mental
health care in a positive direction. In the following section with the help of the Gibb’s reflective
cycle I will reflect on the documented scenario.
Gibb’s reflective cycle
Description
Investigation of the psychiatric ward of the Townsville Hospital that is the 10B
department highlighted that there are different malpractices are present. Most prominent issue of
the ward is to deliver negative practices regarding the mental health care of the patients. The
malpractice was found in police documents and also in the patient documents of both the doctors
responsible for the care of the patients of the ward. However, for 13 years there were no
investigation or actions have taken place against the malpractices. Excessive dosage of drugs was
used in the ward to sedate the patients and the doctors only ordered for the drugs with range of
dosage and the nurses without any permission of prescription administer those drugs. Thus, it can

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be found that the practice of the ward was negative as the chemical restraint has been used to
restrain the patients. It has been seen that the physical tortures were also prominent. A very
unique process of group discussion has been implemented in the hospital ward that is, vote based
punishment or reward process for the patients. The voters are other patients in this scenario. It
has been seen that the patients voting for other patients were unable to decide their own care
procedure. Thus, was also a malpractice in the care procedures of the department. Hence, another
doctor took action against the ward and investigated which lead to negative political actions
against that doctor also. However, there were many evidences which showed the malpractices of
the hospital ward towards the mental health patients. Many suicide cases and unsatisfied family
member statements along with patient statements about tortures and chemical restraint
procedures used in the ward have been seen in the audio visual document. Hence, it can be stated
that the procedure of the care in the ward was very much negative and affected quality of life of
many patients admitted in the facility.
Feelings
Based on the situation of the Townsville Hospital I can feel that the facility is not focused
on the effective and positive outcome for the patients. I can also find that the practice of the
facility is focused on negative and restraint based practice. There are several incidents where the
patients have been tortured and also the over dosage of antipsychotic medicines found to be
lethal as well. On the other hand, the patient votes based speculation of other patients have been
seen in this facility. Thus, I can find that the process of care in the facility is inhuman and also
using the patients as experimental objects can be marked as unethical. The autonomy and
beneficence of the patients have not been considered by the health care practitioners at all. On
the other hand, personnel responsible for the control of the whole hospital facility that is the

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chairperson of the facility stated that he did not know anything about these factors and he
investigated after several deaths of patients in the same ward and found that the doctors were
working properly. Thus, I can feel that the whole facility is affected with negative factors and
they treat the mental health patients as Inhumans. Thus, this practice should be reformed and the
government should investigate the issues of the facility properly. Moreover, detailed
investigation against the health care professionals should be conducted and the negative factors
should be revealed. As a mental health practitioner, I feel that the person centred mental health
care approach should be considered for improving the situation. Thus, reducing the anti-
psychotic drug dosage and also implementing positive counselling and also communication with
the patients would be effective in this process.
Evaluation
Based on the description of the scenario and the feelings regarding the issues found in the
audio visual document I can evaluate that the patient centredness in the facility has been lacked.
However, the factor of the medical governance has also been neglected in the situation. Thus, the
new initiative of the external doctor can be marked as on the of the most effective factor for the
improvement of the care processes. It can also be stated that the process of the care should be
more compassionate and also focusing on the mental and physical wellbeing of the patients.
However, the whole process of the care is affected with personal view points of the care
professionals and not focused on the patient’s wellbeing. Thus, I can state that the improvement
of the situation should be consciously advocated and also the negligence towards the health
outcome of the patients should be minimised. Hence, I can also find that the effective
cooperation with the patients and also the government can improve the situation. On the other
hand, I can also state that the implementation of proper leadership skills for the reformation of

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the condition of the facility would also be effective. Hence, the competences of proper decision
making, communication, collaboration would be required to reduce the negative consequences. It
has been seen that the suicide and unusual deaths of the patients in the facility are common.
Thus, it can be highlighted that the negative impact of the malpractice can be the cause of these
negative factors in the facility. Hence, proper reformation should be considered for the
improvement of the situation of the mental health care facility. Based on the visual data I can
learn and improve my care competence in regards of the mental health care.
Analysis
Based on the evaluation I can find that the process of the care should be provided with
the concerns about the improvement of the patient’s health condition. As per the views of Hu et
al. (2019), I can also state that focusing on the legislative factors of the health care procedures
and also the effective care standards should be implemented for the improvement of the situation
for the patients of the facility. Hence, I can also find the factor after the analysis that the new
external doctor investigating the situation of the facility should improve the care processes for
the patients. Thus, this analysis helps me in the identification of the needs of the leadership and
decision making skills. Hence, I can also find that the improvement in the care competences is
required. Moreover, the effective communication and analysis should be done by the care
professionals rather implementing chemical or physical restraints (Sharp, McAllister and
Broadbent 2016 I can highlight that the patient centred care should be considered with all the
mental health care standards and the legislative and ethical factors of care delivery as well.
Hence, mentioning about the care delivery process it should also be considered that the
improvement of the situation can be achieved by changing the behaviour or the attitudes of the

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mental health care professionals towards the patients (Muir‐Cochrane, O'Kane and Oster 2018).
This analysis helped me in critical analysis skill development for me.
Conclusion
Based on all the factors mentioned above I can conclude that the change of the situation
should be considered with priority. Thus, the implementation of the leadership skills and also
developing collaboration with patients and other staffs should be considered. I can also state that
the government involvement for the proper investigation and also proper reformation of the
facility should be considered as well. In this context, the focus should be on the patients and
elimination of the negative consequences for the patients (Muir‐Cochrane et al. 2019).
Furthermore, I can also find that the effective care delivery is needed for the development of the
good will of the facility as well as the negative outcomes of the patients with mental illness are
mostly reported in this care facility among Australia. Thus, the improvement should be
considered with highest priority. The patients are the centre of this reformation process (Mullan
and Sullivan 2016). The care professionals should be educated and the advance care facility
should be developed for the improvement of the care process. The chemical restraining process
should be eliminated (Edwards et al. 2018). Thus, the care policy should be developed for the
improvement of the situation with focus on the patient’s positive health outcome achievement.
The policy should focus on the improvement of the patients and addressing the needs of the
patients properly.
Action Plan
Based on the above reflection and as a mental health care professional I can develop an
action plan which focuses on the effective improvement of the care skills. The factors related to
the care providence of the mental health patients should be considered with positive interactions

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with the patients. According to Kinner et al. (2017), I can state that the focus on the patient and
respecting the dignity and the requirements of the patients should be developed. Moreover, the
factor of the care delivery to the patients I should develop decision making skills for improved
care procedures. I should also inform the patients about the care procedure properly. On the other
hand, the effective care delivery skills should be developed with the help of these type case
based audio visual documents and also the previous literature researches. Furthermore, based on
the views Lukersmith, Valentijn and Salvador-Carulla (2017), I should also develop
collaborative skills with the help of working with the senior care professionals and also learn
from them about the process of the advance mental care delivery. Hence, as per the views of
Peisah, Jessop and Breen (2019), I can also state that the process of the mental health care should
be focused on the person centred mental health care approach, so I need to develop this
competence with the help of the evidence based practice and also interacting with the patients
with positive communication skills.
Conclusion
Based on the above reflection I can conclude that the audio visual document has been
helpful for me to learn about the negative procedures used by the care professionals. According
to Muir‐Cochrane, Oster and Grimmer (2019), it also helped me into thinking about the positive
approaches and also effectively managing the mental health patients. This factor also helped me
in the identification of the negative impacts of the anti-psychotic drugs over the body and also
the negative factors related to the extensive dosage of these drugs. Hence, I can also state that the
process of the care delivery to the patients should be considering the positive health outcome for
the patient.

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References
Edwards, N., King, J., Williams, K. and Hair, S., 2018. Chemical restraint of adults with
intellectual disability and challenging behaviour in Queensland, Australia: Views of statutory
decision makers. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, p.1744629518782064. Accessed from
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1744629518782064
Hu, F., Muir‐Cochrane, E., Oster, C. and Gerace, A., 2019. An examination of the incidence and
nature of chemical restraint on adult acute psychiatric inpatient units in Adelaide, South
Australia. International journal of mental health nursing, 28(4), pp.909-921. Accessed from
https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12591
Kinner, S.A., Harvey, C., Hamilton, B., Brophy, L., Roper, C., McSherry, B. and Young, J.T.,
2017. Attitudes towards seclusion and restraint in mental health settings: findings from a large,
community-based survey of consumers, carers and mental health professionals. Epidemiology
and psychiatric sciences, 26(5), pp.535-544. DOI:10.1017/S2045796016000585
Lukersmith, S., Valentijn, P. and Salvador-Carulla, L., 2017. A meta-framework and
conceptualisation of person and people-centred integrated health care. International Journal of
Integrated Care, 17(5). Accessed from http://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.3365
Muir‐Cochrane, E., Grimmer, K., Gerace, A., Bastiampillai, T. and Oster, C., 2019. Prevalence
of the use of chemical restraint in the management of challenging behaviours associated with
adult mental health conditions: A meta‐synthesis. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health
Nursing. Accessed from https://doi.org/10.1111/jpm.12585

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Muir‐Cochrane, E., O'Kane, D. and Oster, C., 2018. Fear and blame in mental health nurses’
accounts of restrictive practices: Implications for the elimination of seclusion and restraint.
International journal of mental health nursing, 27(5), pp.1511-1521. DOI: 10.1111/inm.12451
Muir‐Cochrane, E., Oster, C. and Grimmer, K., 2019. International research into 22 years of use
of chemical restraint: An evidence overview. Journal of evaluation in clinical practice. Accessed
from https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13232
Mullan, M.A. and Sullivan, K.A., 2016. Positive attitudes and person-centred care predict of
sense of competence in dementia care staff. Aging & mental health, 20(4), pp.407-414. Accessed
from https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1018865
Peisah, C., Jessop, T. and Breen, J., 2019. A missed opportunity to improve practice around the
use of restraints and consent in residential aged care: Limitations of the Quality of Care
Amendment (Minimising the Use of Restraints) Principles 2019. Australasian Journal on
Ageing. DOI: 10.1111/ajag.12757
Sharp, S., McAllister, M. and Broadbent, M., 2016. The vital blend of clinical competence and
compassion: How patients experience person-centred care. Contemporary nurse, 52(2-3),
pp.300-312. Accessed from http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?
doi=10.1080/10376178.2015.1020981

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