A patient diagnosed with a serious mental illness lives independently and attends a psychosocial rehabilitation program. The patient presents at the emergency department seeking hospitalization. The patient has no acute symptoms but says,

Question

"I have no money to pay my rent or refill my prescription." Select the nurse's best action.

a. Involve the patient's case manager to provide crisis intervention.
b. Send the patient to a homeless shelter until housing can be arranged.
c. Arrange for a short in-patient admission and begin discharge planning.
d. Explain that one must have active psychiatric symptoms to be admitted.

Answer 1

ANS: A
Impaired stress tolerance and problem-solving abilities can cause persons with SMI to experience relatively minor stressors as crises. This patient has run out of money, and this has overwhelmed her ability to cope, resulting in a crisis for which crisis intervention would be an appropriate response. Inpatient care is not clinically indicated nor is the patient homeless (although she may fear she is). Telling the patient that she is not symptomatic enough to be admitted may prompt malingering.