Psychiatric Patients In the Emergency Department: An Evidence-Based Assessment tool For Inpatient Referral

<p>Psychiatric patients who present to Emergency Departments (ED) are a growing population. These patients are challenging cases for ED healthcare providers who do not feel comfortable or adequately prepared to assess their psychiatric needs. Despite the increasing frequency of psychiatric patients in the ED and the subsequent burden they pose on the ED providers and resources, best practice guidelines and standardized assessment tools have not been developed for this population. Research studies, conducted worldwide, consistently show that specific patient characteristics, symptoms, and contextual factors are predictive of psychiatric inpatient hospitalization. These predictive factors were used to create the Psychiatric Inpatient Referral Assessment Tool (PIRAT), a partially developed, computerized, assessment tool that assists Emergency Department providers in determining if a psychiatric inpatient hospitalization referral is warranted. This tool remains in the beginning stages of development and requires testing the in the practical setting to determine its validity, usefulness, and accuracy.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

DNP

Level thesis:degree_level

Campus Access Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

College of Nursing

Year

2009

Author dc:creator

• Wrigglesworth, Kathryn

Contributors dc:contributor

• Beverly Baliko

• Medicine and Health Sciences
• Nursing

Statement dc:rights

• © 2009, Kathryn Wrigglesworth

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/113

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarcommons.sc.edu:etd-1114