The effectiveness of crisis intervention techniques utlized by a psychiatric nurse for emergency room patients with emotional complaints

This study was done to test the effectiveness of a psychiatric nurse utilizing crisis intervention techniques with patients diagnosed as psychiatric in the emergency room of a general hospital. All psychiatric patients who were seen in the emergency room from February 5, 1972 until March 5, 1972, with the exceptions of persons living outside the Salt Lake area and those who were hospitalized were included in the study. Rotating twelve hour blocks of time were used to divide the samples randomly. The control group consisted of eighteen persons who received the standard services provided by the emergency room staff. The experimental group was composed of fifteen persons who received crisis intervention by a psychiatric nurse. An essential element of patient centered care is the patient's own perception of the treatment he received. The meaning he attaches to events or his attitude toward the hospital service is an area which must be closely examined when planning patient care. The Semantic Differential technique developed by Osgood and his collaborators was used to measure patient attitudes toward the concept of "University Hospital Emergency Room Services." The Semantic Differential Scale was administered at the patient's home three to six days following the emergency room experience by a person not associated with this study who was a college student in an unrelated field. A t-test was done to determine the difference in attitude toward the emergency room experience between the two groups. The results, revealed that there was mean difference between the two group, P<.05. The experimental group had significantly more favorable attitudes toward the concept of "University Hospital Room Services" than did hose persons in the control group. The data supported the hypothesis the psychiatric nurses utilizing crisis intervention in the emergency room can provide quality patient care.