I've been doing some research for my BSN toward developing a "toolkit" for my ED to help us provide safe, consistent care to psych patients in the ED. This toolkit would consist of advanced assessment scales, community resources, that kind of thing. We have a big ol' binder full of names and numbers, but it's getting a bit tattered through overuse, and it needs an overhaul. I'd love to add some material to it for those patients who clearly don't meet inpatient criteria, but are going to fall through the cracks if they're not given some resources (and thus return in crisis to the ED over and over). I've found a bunch of great material, and I'm hopeful that this toolkit will help us out.
I'm just wondering what kinds of different resources your EDs have for psych patients. Do you have a special area/cluster dedicated to psych patients? (One study looked at a "guesting area" as an alternative for psych holds, which was kind of interesting.) Do you have an emergency psych RN on staff? Are sitters readily available for one-to-one patients? Do you have written procedures in place for suicidal patients, like putting them into paper scrubs and inventorying belongings? Anything (process, procedure, etc.) you've found to be unique to your ED, or you think is worth a mention? Have you noticed a big uptick in the number of psych patients over the last couple of years? I sure have. At least, it feels like it!
Nitfree
30 Posts
Thanks, I did find that link by accident and think I have made a good presentation using keypoints from that site.