The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the mental health care. Treating psychiatric patients with COVID-19 poses multiple challenges in the inpatient psychiatric setting in terms of mitigating transmission of the virus. Gracie Square Hospital, a freestanding psychiatric hospital located in New York City, dedicated a unit for treating COVID-19 patients requiring inpatient psychiatric treatment. We faced different challenges including treatment refusal, difficulty complying with safety precautions due to psychosis, agitated behavior, and staff psychological well-being. We considered reformation of protocols, expansion of the use of technology, development of a supportive platform, and standardization of clinical practice. This paper describes our strategies to manage the challenges while providing acute psychiatric treatment to COVID-19 patients.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the mental health care. Treating psychiatric patients with COVID-19 poses multiple challenges in the inpatient psychiatric setting in terms of mitigating transmission of the virus. Gracie Square Hospital, a freestanding psychiatric hospital located in New York City, devoted a unit to treating COVID-19 patients requiring inpatient psychiatric treatment. This paper describes our experiences and challenges while managing the psychiatric COVID-19 unit that may serve as a model for other health care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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