Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample

Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample

States have unique laws about handling mental health patients in emergencies. There are regulations for healthcare practitioners, and that influence their relationship with patients. Ethical and legal issues emerge with interactions from emergency holds. The capacity and competency of the patients influence the evaluation using evidence-based suicide risk and violence assessment tools. The purpose of the paper is to assess the legal and ethical issues that emerge when engaging with psychiatric emergencies, which would help establish the impact of Texas laws on the role of healthcare practitioners. (Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Explain your state (Texas) laws for involuntary psychiatric holds for child and adult psychiatric emergencies. Include who can hold a patient and for how long, who can release the emergency hold, and who can pick up the patient after a hold is released.

In Texas, individuals experiencing mental challenges are involuntarily hospitalized for 48 hours. Psychiatric emergency detention targets patients who pose a danger to their health and other members of the community. Buppert (2020) highlights that state laws provide a legal guide, fundamental to preventing issues for nurse practitioners emerging from malpractice cases. Healthcare practitioners and mental health officers working in Texas are given the power to hold mental health patients. In 48 hours, they should write a statement to elaborate on the individual’s behavior and provide a valid reason for holding the individual. A family member, friend, or responsible person who knows the patient can activate the release hold. Besides, the court can release the emergency hold before the 48 hours have elapsed. On the other hand, the patient can also be held for more than 48 hours if the patient’s condition is severe. Texas gives the healthcare providers the power to hold the patient until they can control the situation and then be released. The state laws are vital and can help prevent ethical and legal issues from emerging when engaging and handling patients in the mental health facility.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Explain the differences between emergency hospitalization for evaluation/psychiatric hold, inpatient, and outpatient commitment in your state.

Emergency hospitalization refers to inpatient treatment provided to patients for 24 hours to help stabilize their health and prevent a crisis. However, inpatient commitment is when the court orders an individual to remain in a psychiatric facility after showing severe symptoms of mental conditions. Lastly, outpatient commitment is a legal order the patient provides that requires individuals to go for regular check-ins in a psychiatric facility while living in the community.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Explain the difference between capacity and competency in mental health contexts.

Capacity is the ability of a human being to make healthcare decisions because they do not have impairment in their mind. According to Zakhari (2021), the ANCC certification examination reviews essential knowledge and healthcare workers’ ability to review patients’ psychiatric-mental health critically. The theoretical knowledge and practical skills can help nurses identify patients who cannot make decisions and inform measures to be taken. The healthcare provider assesses the law and identifies the possible channel to follow, and that is fundamental to prevent litigation by breaching the rights of a mental health patient. On the contrary, competency is the ability of a patient to engage in legal matters and is determined by the judge. The individual may approve or disapprove of the evidence, which can help determine their competency. Healthcare providers should clearly understand capacity and competence, which would help prevent harm to the patient and associated legal action.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Select one of the following topics, and explain one legal issue and one ethical issue related to this topic that may apply within the context of treating psychiatric emergencies: patient autonomy, EMTALA, confidentiality, HIPAA privacy rule, HIPAA security rule, protected information, legal gun ownership, career obstacles (security clearances/background checks), and payer source.

HIPAA privacy rule refers to laws that elaborate how a patient’s healthcare data can be used or disclosed. It is an issue for mental health professionals, considering they need to access healthcare data and share it with other practitioners to provide exemplary patient care. A legal issue is a patient may sue a healthcare provider and institution for breach of confidentiality. The revelation of patient information for stigmatic medical conditions may lead to discrimination, and data privacy or confidentiality is necessary (Shen et al., 2019). For instance, an emergency hospitalization and releasing the information to the employer may make the patient sue the healthcare organization. Following HIPAA privacy rules can help in preventing legal issues.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)  

Denying a patient access to their data is an ethical issue. According to Shah and Khan (2020), violation of EHR data and patient access leads to ethical concerns, and a strict understanding of the law can help prevent healthcare issues. The patient should have access to information to avoid ethical problems and enhance the success of mental health interventions.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Identify one evidence-based suicide risk assessment that you could use to screen patients.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4267798/pdf/icns_11_9-10_32.pdf

InterSePT Scale for Suicidal Thinking-Plus (ISST-Plus) is a suitable evidence-based risk assessment tool for assessing the patient. Ghaemi et al. (2022) report that ISST-Plus can help in determining high-risk suicidal behavior, and the result would help the investigator identify the cause and necessary medication. The tool can assess the behavior of the individuals on arrival at the psychiatric facility and would be vital in providing first-hand information before more tests are conducted. The scale helps to include and exclude some elements and inform the healthcare provider about risks. Besides, ISST-Plus helps in identifying the intent of the patient. Mental health may be caused by severe substance abuse or other factors, and identifying the intent is necessary to provide treatment. An evidence-based tool is essential in linking these elements and ensuring good decision-making would guarantee the best outcomes for the mental health patient.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Identify one evidence-based violence risk assessment that you could use to screen patients.

http://hcr-20.com/hcr/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/HCR-V3-Rating-Sheet-1-page-

HCR-20V3 is an evidence-based tool that can help screen patients for violence. Violence and aggression are symptoms of mental health patients and influence therapy and measures healthcare practitioners provide. The tool comprises professional guidelines that are structured, and they help in providing professional judgment of a situation. HCR-20V3 contains valuable information to help identify and interpret behavior and understand the risk of violence. The objective of assessing violence is to reduce risks for the patient and ensure the patient can benefit from the mental health care provided by the mental institution. It analyzes clinical, historical, and other factors, which is essential in getting a good judgment of risk.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Conclusion

Texas has regulations that influence the engagement between mental health patients and healthcare providers. The state law requires healthcare practitioners to hold patients in severe cases for 48 hours. The situation determines if the case is emergency hospitalization, inpatient, or outpatient commitment. The capacity and competence of the client also influence the power to hold or pick the patient.HIPAA privacy rules, confidentiality, and protected information, among others, influence the emergence of legal and ethical issues. ISST-Plus and HCR-20V3 are evidence-based suicide and violence risk assessment tools that can help properly judge a mental health patient case.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

References

Buppert, C. (2020). Nurse practitioner’s business practice and legal guide (7th ed.). Jones &

Bartlett Learning.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Ghaemi, S. N., Sverdlov, O., van Dam, J., Campellone, T., & Gerwien, R. (2022). A

Smartphone-based intervention as an adjunct to standard-of-care treatment for schizophrenia: randomized controlled trial. JMIR formative research, 6(3), e29154. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9002609/pdf/formative_v6i3e29154.pdf(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

HCR-20V3: http://hcr-20.com/hcr/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/HCR-V3-Rating-Sheet-1-page-

CC-License-16-October-2013.pdf

ISST-Plus: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4267798/pdf/icns_11_9-10_32.pdf

Shah, S. M., & Khan, R. A. (2020). Secondary use of electronic health record: Opportunities and

Challenges. IEEE Access, 8, 136947-136965. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=9146114(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Shen, N., Sequeira, L., Silver, M. P., Carter-Langford, A., Strauss, J., & Wiljer, D. (2019).(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Patient privacy perspectives on health information exchange in a mental health context: qualitative study. JMIR mental health, 6(11), e13306. https://www.scienceopen.com/document_file/3dc5d9cd-9381-49a1-a547-d94d5ff7fbc9/PubMedCentral/3dc5d9cd-9381-49a1-a547-d94d5ff7fbc9.pdf(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)

Zakhari, R. (2021). The psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner certification review manual.

Springer Publishing Company.(Legal and Ethical Issues Related to Psychiatric Emergencies Comprehensive Nursing Paper Sample)