Illness episode vs treatment outcome: questions regarding safety

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to increase the knowledge of nurses assigned to mental health patients, improve the number of patients referred, and to accurately assess the appropriateness of patients referred to psychiatric screening centers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a quantitative and qualitative design to examine clinical practices of nurses assigned to triage and crisis duties at the selected screening center. A combined experimental, as well as a review of clinical best practices, offered a perspective on trends, chronology, acuity of a mental illness, the number of times a patient is seen on a psychiatric screening unit, and factors leading up to the referral. The study also included an evaluation of an education module to identify best practices for teaching and testing suicidality triage information among nurses.

Findings

Findings were inconclusive in that many hospitals and screening centers in the state of New Jersey exercise their specific/exclusive policies and practices in the management of their populations, despite specific screening laws that are supposed to govern all mental health facilities throughout the state.

Research limitations/implications

Hospital administrators are not always open to scrutiny and investigation of their clinical practices.

Originality/value

There have been limited research studies on the effectiveness of psychiatric screening law and safety of mental health patients in New Jersey.

Citation

Abdur‐Razzaq, M. (2011), "Illness episode vs treatment outcome: questions regarding safety", Mental Health Review Journal, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 197-204. https://doi.org/10.1108/13619321111202359