title: Health care reform: clinical implications for inpatient psychiatric nursing.
abstract: 1. Shorter hospitalizations and increasing acuity have had an impact on all areas of inpatient services, making it necessary for health care providers to adapt quickly in order to remain competitive and continue to be able to provide quality services. 2. New modalities are being incorporated rapidly into existing units in an attempt to meet the changing needs of today's health care environment. These new programs greatly alter the traditional milieu and require a different treatment approach. 3. Inpatient hospitalization requires a rapid progression through three phases of treatment: assessment, stabilization, and discharge planning. The psychiatric nurse is instrumental in all three phases.
authors.affiliation: Adult Services, Dominion Hospital, Falls Church, Virginia.
authors.forename: N N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: McGihon
mesh_terms: D018166:Health Care Reform; D006760:Hospitalization; D007902:Length of Stay; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration