Objective:

To better equip medical staff to care for specific needs of children with autism spectrum disorder while hospitalized.

Background:

Children with autism typically thrive on routine. In March of 2020, the covid-19 pandemic ensured everyone’s routines would change, as the world shut down. We saw patients with previously tolerable behaviors become unmanageable, causing emergency room visits and subsequent hospital admissions. This placed a burden on staff at hospitals to care for patients with challenging behaviors. Care was further complicated by unfamiliar noises, faces, and scenery and patients’ behaviors were met with medical and physical restraints, rather than prevention, redirection, and de-escalation.

Design/Methods:

With a team of a pediatric psychologist, neurodevelopmental disability residents, and nurse educators, we designed a six-part training series to educate nurses and ancillary staff on how to better care for patients with autism, with the goal of increasing their ability to prevent, de-escalate, and redirect challenging behaviors. The training was built in a hospital-supported, virtual learning platform. Participating staff included nurses, APPs, PCAs, sitters, and other ancillary staff. Pre- and post questions were designed to assess changes in the attitude, comfort, and knowledge of those who completed the training.

Results:

There was a statistically significant increase on all items scored (including attitude, comfort, and knowledge questions) as a result of the educational intervention.

Conclusions:

Children with autism are often met with fear instead of empathy, as they are more likely to express challenging behaviors while hospitalized. Our training series educates staff on how to better meet the needs of children with autism and challenging behaviors. We have shown that self-reported attitude, comfort, and knowledge among trainees significantly increased following completion of training. Future implications include adapting training to other providers in the hospital, including residents and attendings, and designing additional follow-up training opportunities for staff.