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3.15.4 - Suicidal Patients in Intensive Care

from Section 3.15 - Psychiatric Disorders Encountered in Intensive Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2023

By
Ruth Taylor  and
Peter Byrne
Edited by
Ned Gilbert-Kawai ,
Debashish Dutta  and
Carl Waldmann
Ned Gilbert-Kawai
Affiliation:
The Royal Liverpool Hospital
Debashish Dutta
Affiliation:
Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, Harlow
Carl Waldmann
Affiliation:
Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading
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Summary

Key Learning Points

  1. 1. Emergency medical treatment should not be delayed and is provided in the patient’s best interests.

  2. 2. Informed consent must be sought for further medical interventions. Capacity assessments are carried out where necessary.

  3. 3. A risk assessment should be carried out at the earliest opportunity, whether the patient is conscious or not.

  4. 4. Intensive care staff work closely with the psychiatry team to provide combined medical and psychiatric care.

  5. 5. Ongoing training for intensive care staff caring for psychiatric patients improves confidence and reduces risk.

Keywords

self-harmsuicidalriskpsychology
Type
Chapter
Information
Intensive Care Medicine
The Essential Guide
 , pp. 445 - 447
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

References and Further Reading

Bongar, B, Berman, AL, Maris, RW, Silverman, MM, Packman, W, Harris, EA. Risk Management with Suicidal Patients. New York, NY: The Guildford Press; 1998.Google Scholar
Davidhizar, R, Vance, A. The management of the suicidal patient in a critical care unit. J Nurs Manage 1993;1:95–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saunders, KEA, Hawton, K, Fortune, S, Farrell, S. Attitudes and knowledge of clinical staff regarding people who self-harm: a systematic review. J Affect Disord 2012;139:205–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, X, Lee, J, Koval, L, et al. Predicting ICU admissions from attempted suicide presentations at an Emergency Department in Central Queensland. Australas Med J 2013;6:536–41.Google ScholarPubMed

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