Question:
Do all the offices and day rooms need to have self-closing doors on inpatient psych units? I was informed that a recently surveyed hospital was cited for not having this.
Answer:
The group rooms, day rooms, and other non-locked group spaces that are not ligature resistant need self-closing and self-locking doors and a staff member needs to be always in the room when a patient is in the room.
If you have an office that is always locked and closed unless a staff member is in the room, then that door does not need to be self-closing and self-locking and that office does not need to be ligature resistant.
If you have a ligature resistant day room with no identified safety or self-harm risks, that room does not need to have a self-closing, self-locking door.
In the 2018 Executive Briefing, The Joint Commission did the following Q&A:
Question – Do the offices, activity, interview, and group rooms on the inpatient psych unit need to be ligature resistant?
NO, if:
- Self-locking and self-closing doors are installed and functioning
- Patients are under direct observation if they are in the room
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