Overnight Admission for Psychiatric Emergencies
Abstract
Patients identified as psychiatric cases on the emergency ward of a 1036-bed teaching hospital are handled in one of three ways: released with outpatient referral, admitted to a psychiatric inpatient facility, or hospitalized in a general medical holding unit with a 24-hour stay. The authors obtained demographic and diagnostic data on 377 psychiatric patients seen consecutively on the ward and then compared those admitted to the holding unit (83) with those released (193) or hospitalized (101). The three groups were demographically similar but the patients in the holding group fell between the other two groups in severity of psycho- pathology. More than half the patients admitted to the holding unit were released the following day. The authors discuss the advantages of overnight admission as an alternative to hospitalization or release.
Access content
To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.- Personal login
- Institutional Login
- Sign in via OpenAthens
- Register for access
-
Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability.
Not a subscriber?
PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.
Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).