Many psychiatric patients wait 24 hours to be seen.
The current state of care for psychiatric ED patients leaves much to be desired, as illustrated by the recent waiting room death of a patient in a Brooklyn psychiatric ED and new survey findings from the American College of Emergency Physicians. Experts recommend several options for improving care for those patients. The creation of a psychiatric ED, which is specifically designed to manage such patients; a separate, locked area within the ED devoted to intoxicated and incarcerated patients and patients staffing that includes nurse specialists, social workers, or nurse practitioners and physician assistants with specialized training in mental health.
D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors