Retrospective program evaluation of a behavioral emergency response team

Purpose of Project: The aim is to evaluate a behavioral emergency response team (BERT) in reducing the number of physical assaults against registered nurses (RNs) and develop recommendations based on the strengths and weaknesses identified.Methods: A retrospective program evaluation of the BERT at a community hospital was performed over a 12-week period utilizing the context, input, process and product evaluation (CIPP) framework. Data was collected and de-identified from hospital security reports and BERT incident logs between January 2024 to October 2024. The number of physical assaults against RNs were then compared pre- and post- implementation.Results: The program’s strengths included the organization’s strong safety culture facilitating buy-in of the well-formed guidelines as well as 75% of BERTs with known outcomes leading to de-escalation, thereby, preventing WPV. Opportunities for improvement identified were the small sample size, missed incident log documentation, and lack of presence of all BERT responders. The data showed three incidents of RN physical assault prior to BERT implementation and seven post. Nine out of the 10 RN physical assaults occurred at night when BERT was unavailable. While BERT has potential in reducing RN physical assaults, the program should be expanded to night shift and additional data must be collected to evaluate its effectiveness.Implications for Practice: The implications on clinical practice included providing standardized care for patients experiencing behavioral crisis similar to a rapid response for medical crisis. Furthermore, it’s impact on quality and safety provide high quality-care to patients of a marginalized patient population through verbal de-escalation while increasing safety for RNs.