It’s likely you’ll encounter aggressive or violent situations in psychiatric EDs and inpatient units.

Sexual attraction—and even sexual activity—sometimes occurs among individuals staying together in a psychiatric inpatient unit. Nevertheless, many psychiatric hospitals lack policies on patient-to-patient physical contact. 

Precaution orders help ensure the safety and well-being of patients and staff. 

You may have received that dreaded text first thing in the morning: “The Joint Commission has just arrived for a site visit. Please consult your supervisor for further information.” Suddenly, everyone’s on edge. What should you do? And why is this such a big deal?

UR is a fairly painful aspect of health care bureaucracy, but unfortunately you need to understand how it works and to engage with it on a daily basis.

Conducting a capacity evaluation is a critical aspect of health care, particularly when you’re faced with patients who may not be able to make informed decisions about their treatment. 

A feature of many psychiatric illnesses is a lack of insight into the need for treatment.

Health care proxy (HCP) and power of attorney (POA) are types of advance directives, which are legal documents allowing individuals to designate someone else to make decisions on their behalf, particularly when they are incapacitated. 

Patients often arrive at psychiatric hospitals under involuntary commitment orders, typically initiated by police or psychiatric mobile response teams.