Psychiatric Emergencies

After completion of this course you’ll be able to:

1. Categorize psychiatric patients into three groups.
2. List the factors you should consider while creating the best environment to examine a psychiatric patient.
3. Describe how the appearance, movement, and speech of a psychiatric patient can help you establish an initial diagnosis.
4. Provide a differential diagnosis on the basis of circumstantialities and tangentiality.
5. Explain how thought content can provide insight into a patient’s mental status.
6. Identify four situations in which you may reveal confidential patient information.
7. Emphasize the importance of documenting all interventions.
8. Discuss the three basic elements of consent.
9. List 7 points that should be covered during initial examination to assess a patient’s competence.
10. Identify circumstances under which you may be held liable for harm caused by your patient either to himself or others.
11. List various common signs and symptoms of delirium.
12. Describe the mental status and physical findings of alcohol intoxication.
13. Describe the interpersonal and pharmacologic interventions for alcohol withdrawal.
14. Describe the management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
15. Discuss medicolegal considerations associated with alcoholic emergencies.
16. Describe the triage approach to drug abuse.
17. Describe the pharmacologic intervention for opioid withdrawal.
18. Describe the mental status findings of schizophrenia and mania and provide a differential diagnosis.
19. List medical disorders that mimic schizophrenia and mania.
20. Describe the interpersonal interventions for a paranoid and catatonic patient.
21. Provide a differential diagnosis of violent patients.
22. Describe the interpersonal interventions a clinician should use when faced with a violent patient.
23. Discuss legal considerations involved in informed consent, refusal of treatment, dangerousness, and duty to warn or protect intended victims.
24. Classify self-destructive patients into three categories.
25. Identify clinical indicators of high suicide risk.
26. List major depressive syndromes.
27. Describe the interpersonal intervention for a nonpsychotic patient with depression.
28. Describe the management of grief of survivors of a patient who has died unexpectedly.
29. List medical disorders associated with anxiety.
30. Make a differential diagnosis of panic disorder.
31. Make a classification of phobias.
32. Identify phobias, obsessions, compulsions, and P.T.S.D., and provide interpersonal, pharmacologic and educational interventions.
33. Describe usual staff reactions to domestic abuse.
34. Identify spousal abuse in patients.
35. Describe the interpersonal interventions in cases of elder abuse.
36. Describe the protocol for examining a rape victim.
37. List signs of physical and sexual abuse.
38. Describe the runaway behavior of boys and girls.
39. Identify risk factors for child abuse.
40. Perform mental status and physical findings on a patient with dementia.
41. Provide interpersonal intervention to the delirious elderly patient.
42. Identify and differentiate among the most common types of psychoses in the elderly population.
43. Describe the management of a suspected drug abuser in the emergency psychiatric setting.
44. Identify malingerers.
45. Discuss the general, neurologic and other effects of antipsychotic, antidepressant, anticonvulsant, and antianxiety drugs.