Griffin Hospital launches post-trauma journal program
PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED
Caregivers in the Intensive Care Unit at Griffin Hospital mark the first-in-the-nation implementation of the award-winning Post-ICU journal program.
Griffin Hospital in Derby has become the first in the country to offer patients in the Intensive Care Unit a digital way to process and manage traumatic events.
In September, Griffin introduced the Post-ICU journal, a novel care program that won the National Healthcare Innovation Award in the Netherlands in 2021. The Post-ICU journal was developed by Dr. Marc Buise of the Dutch Eindhoven Catharina Hospital. It is an online diary designed to help intensive care patients process the traumatic events that resulted in their admission to the ICU, according to hospital officials.
“An ICU care experience can be incredibly difficult and isolating for patients,” said Griffin ICU Medical Director Dr. K. Marya Chaisson. “Their trauma can be made worse when they have no clear recollection of being admitted and their memories of the experience are vague and fragmented. We are proud to be the first hospital in the country to implement this innovative, patient-centered program that provides compassionate care for the emotional well-being of patients and their loved ones.”
Chaisson said the Post-ICU journal addresses a side effect of ICU admission known as Post Intensive Care Syndrome. The journal allows relatives and nurses to document events that occurred during a patient’s admittance and stay in the ICU so that the patient can review the entries when they are well.
Research has shown that being able to read an account of the events that occurred during a hospital stay enables patients and their loved ones to better process the ICU period upon returning home, which can contribute to a better mental and physical recovery, according to Chaisson.
The implementation of the Post-ICU journal is supervised by Planetree International, a not-for-profit organization that partners with care settings around the world to improve healthcare outcomes and experiences through person-centered care. Planetree International has also supported several hospitals in the Netherlands with the introduction and implementation of this service.
Griffin Health President and CEO Patrick Charmel said, “We are grateful to Planetree International for their partnership in bringing this innovation to the U.S., and to Griffin’s ICU caregivers for implementing this novel solution that supports the mental and physical recovery of our patients and their loved ones.”
Griffin, a 160-bed hospital on Division Street in Derby, serves more than 130,000 residents of the Lower Naugatuck Valley.
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