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Nurses as psychiatric consultants in a general hospital emergency room

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Abstract

Psychiatric nurses' experience in milieu therapy, home treatment, community aftercare, and psychotherapy can be the basis for new roles in mental health. This study used psychiatric nurses as consultants to general physicians in a general hospital emergency room. Psychiatric nurses successfully managed 66% of the psychiatric referrals in the emergency room and required only telephone consultation in a majority of the remaining cases to develop and implement a satisfactory treatment plan. The resistance to using nurses in this new role seems a result of anxiety generated in the emergency room staff and physicians. Sensitivity to these discomforts reduces “undermining” behavior and provides the opportunity for new roles to develop, be defined, and be accepted.

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Ms. Severin, formerly a Psychiatric Nurse Clinician, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, School of Medicine can be reached at P.O. Box 283, Mukilteo, Washington 98275.

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Severin, N.K., Becker, R.E. Nurses as psychiatric consultants in a general hospital emergency room. Community Ment Health J 10, 261–267 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01410771

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01410771

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