Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T14:06:20.378Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Robert Goldney ,
Julia Bowes ,
Neil Spence ,
Andrew Czechowicz  and
Rod Hurley
Robert Goldney*
Affiliation:
Glenside Hospital Adelaide, 5063, South Australia
Julia Bowes
Affiliation:
Glenside Hospital Adelaide, 5063, South Australia
Neil Spence
Affiliation:
Glenside Hospital Adelaide, 5063, South Australia
Andrew Czechowicz
Affiliation:
Glenside Hospital Adelaide, 5063, South Australia
Rod Hurley
Affiliation:
Glenside Hospital Adelaide, 5063, South Australia
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The first three and a half years' operation of a psychiatric intensive care unit, based on the general hospital model, is described. This eight-bedded ward focusses on the treatment of the most acutely psychiatrically ill patients, and not on the forensic or custodial aspects of such units previously described. It has gained general acceptance within the setting of a state psychiatric hospital, and has received 1132 admissions since its inception. Demographic, clinical, and treatment data are presented and the advantages and disadvantages of the unit are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 146 , Issue 1 , January 1985 , pp. 50 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Basson, J. V. & Woodside, M. (1981) Assessment of a secureintensive care-forensic ward. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 64, 132–141.Google Scholar
Bollini, P., Andreani, A., Colombo, F., Bellantuono, C., Beretta, P., Arduini, A., Galli, T. & Tognoni, G. (1984) High-dose neuroleptics: uncontrolled clinical practice confirms controlled clinical trials. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 25–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crain, P. M. & Jordan, E. G. (1979) The psychiatric intensive care unit—An in-hospital treatment of violent adult patients. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Bulletin, 7, 190–198.Google ScholarPubMed
Davis, J. M. (1976) Comparative doses and costs of antipsychotic medication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, 858–861.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donlon, P. T., Hopkin, J. & Tupin, J. P. (1979) Overview: Efficacy and safety of the rapid neuroleptization method with injectable haloperidol. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 273–278.Google Scholar
Flinn, D. E., Slawson, P. R. & Schwartz, D. (1978) Staff response to suicide of hospitalized psychiatric patients. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 29, 122–127.Google Scholar
Gudeman, J. E., Shore, M. F. & Dickey, B. (1983) Day hospitalisation and an inn instead of inpatient care for psychiatric patients. New England Journal of Medicine, 308, 749–753.Google Scholar
Hay, D. & Oken, D. (1972) The psychological stresses of intensive care unit nursing. Psychosomatic Medicine, 34, 109–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ketai, R., Matthews, J. & Mozdzen, J. J. (1979) Sudden death in a patient taking haloperidol. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 112–113.Google Scholar
Leib, P. (1983) Emergency psychiatry: A new frontier or just hard work? Contemporary Psychiatry, 2, 89–91.Google Scholar
Mattson, M. R. & Sacks, M. H. (1978) Seclusion: Uses and complications. American Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 1210–1213.Google Scholar
Modestin, J., Krapf, R. & Boker, W. (1981) A fatality during haloperidol treatment: Mechanism of sudden death. American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 1616–1617.Google ScholarPubMed
Mounsey, N. (1979) Psychiatric intensive care. Nursing Times, 75, 1811–1813.Google Scholar
Rachun, S. (1973) On the need for a closed ward in an open hospital: The psychiatric intensive care unit. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 24, 829–833.Google Scholar
Sarwer-Foner, G. J. & Kealey, L. S. (1981) Reactions to hospitalisation: Passive dependency factors. Recurrence of original symptoms and attempts to prolong hospitalisation on the announcement of discharge. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 22, 103–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yesavage, J. A., Werner, P. D., Becker, J., Holman, C. & Mills, M. (1981) Inpatient evaluation of aggression in psychiatric patients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 169, 299–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.