• Corpus ID: 53334529

Using the Behavioural Activity Rating Scale as a Vital Sign in the Psychiatric Emergency Service

@inproceedings{Simpson2017UsingTB,
  title={Using the Behavioural Activity Rating Scale as a Vital Sign in the Psychiatric Emergency Service},
  author={Scott A. Simpson and Marla Pidgeon and Kimberly D. Nordstrom},
  year={2017}
}

• S. Simpson, Marla Pidgeon, Kimberly D. Nordstrom
• Published 2017
• Psychology, Medicine

Improving mental health care in the emergency department (ED) is an increasingly urgent issue. With a decline in inpatient psychiatric capacity and the outpatient mental health system “in tatters,” emergency rooms have become “epicenters for psychiatric and behavioral emergencies.”1 More than 12% of annual emergency department visits are for psychiatric reasons.1 Moreover, psychiatric diagnoses are disproportionately represented among patients with frequent ED utilization. Lengths of psychiatric stays in the ED have increased, and specialized emergency psychiatric staff are often lacking.1