Long Waits In The Emergency Department Exacerbate Agitation, Especially For Behavioral Health Patients. The healthcare workforce shortage that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic is now a full-blown crisis. In 2022 alone, 500,000 nurses were expected to leave the workforce, creating a shortage of more than 1.1 million nurses.
The behavioral health space has changed substantially in 2022 alone, particularly with the rollout of 988. With the crucial change to crisis response, we’ve also seen challenges in our field become all the more apparent.
An individual’s behavioral health care needs don’t end when they are discharged from an inpatient stay. Treatment along a continuum is likely needed. This treatment may include partial hospitalization, residential treatment, or ongoing outpatient therapy.
A patient experiencing a heart attack or stroke who presents at a hospital emergency department is immediately prioritized for intervention because delays in care lead to poorer outcomes. Patients experiencing a psychiatric crisis, however, often wait hours, if not days, for appropriate treatment, despite delays in care leading to poorer outcomes.
