Behavioral Health Services in Emergency Departments
How to Handle a Mental Health Crisis
An adult with emotional problems who’s also experiencing a mental health crisis will frequently rush to a local hospital’s emergency department. Patients do this because the hospital and, possibly, their community lack access to adequate mental health care.
When people with severe psychiatric conditions are admitted to the medical emergency department of a hospital, it puts an immediate strain on ER staff and can stretch the wait times for patients with acute injuries and ailments.
Sometimes a neighborhood ED is really the only available option, but it may not contain a separate unit for psychiatric crisis situations. Having a separate emergency area for mental health patients can improve the safety of your employees, streamline workloads and help produce better patient outcomes.
Emergency rooms are stressful for behavioral health patients
Hospitals, as you know, are already facing ongoing shortages of psychiatric beds and a lack of nurses with specialty training. When a mentally ill person is in crisis and comes to the ER, they may wait longer for a mental health assessment and transfer to a more suitable psychiatric facility.
An ED waiting area can be an overwhelming and overstimulating experience for anyone. Patients wait with limited access to bathrooms, food and privacy. People with anxiety or emotional problems may begin to feel agitated and more distressed than when they first arrived.
Psychiatric emergency patients typically take longer to settle and treat, according to the experts. Severe side effects of patients who are suffering from mental health emergencies may display signs of unpredictable agitation, medical issues, symptoms of drug overdose or violence.
Local hospitals may not have specialty psychiatric staff
It’s easy to see why patients suffering from a mental or emotional break might react to the chaos of an emergency room setting. Horizon Health recognizes that psychiatric patients frequently require longer evaluation and stabilization periods due to the complex nature of their needs.
Recent studies collectively called Comprehensive Care for Mental Health Patients in Hospital Emergency Departments were done at the Department of Psychology at Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada. To prove the need for additional mental health resources, the report claims (in the last 10 years) there’s been a 50% increase in emergency department visits by Canadian youth with mental disorders.
Study authors also warned that emergency departments in hospitals are not ideal settings for helping mental health patients thrive and recover.
Limited psychiatric staff and a severe nursing shortage
Many emergency departments lack readily available psychiatrists or mental health professionals. It leads to delays in evaluation, treatment and management of mental health conditions.
In the long-term, further education and training may help emergency staff to better support emergency psychiatric patients using tools like assessments and crisis intervention techniques. Private mental health emergency areas will potentially be more calming for patients with psychiatric illnesses.
Obstacles for mentally ill patients and ED overflow:
- Slower intake and patient assessment
- Lack of health resources and beds
- Safety concerns about disruptive or aggressive patients
- Lack of psychiatrists and specialty nurses
- Unsatisfactory psychiatric training for ED medical staff
- Poor follow-up outpatient care for mentally ill health patients
After an ER visit, complex psychiatric patients may be discharged without generous outpatient services. Lack of follow-up, continuing education or intervention will, unfortunately, increase the patient’s risk of homelessness, arrest, abuse and emotional problems.
Horizon Health Crisis Stabilization Units
A crisis stabilization unit (CSU) is a medically supervised clinical environment that can offer 24/7 care and monitoring for people having a psychological crisis. The goal of inpatient CSU is to provide around-the-clock mental health care to stabilize the patient. Staff also emotionally prepares them for their recovery and the return to outpatient status.
In any emergency department, a CSU can represent privacy, consistency of care and commitment towards behavioral health treatment. Some CSU settings are freestanding buildings, whereas others are embedded in (or attached to) hospital emergency departments.
Contact us
Interested in learning how Horizon Health can help your hospital create and manage a mental health emergency unit? Call 800-931-4646 or complete an online contact form, and a member of the business development team will reach out.
Horizon Health has more than 40 years of behavioral health management experience for hospitals and mental health facilities. Consulting services are with behavioral healthcare organizations, hospitals and healthcare systems. We provide assessments, strategic guidance, operational insights and market intelligence.
