Child Psychiatry |
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The Pediatric Inpatient Psychiatry Unit is a ten bed, locked inpatient unit. It provides evaluative and treatment services to children who require inpatient admission. Staff consisting of a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a registered nurse, and a social worker completes the evaluation. Additional staff includes recreation therapist, licensed practical nurses and nursing assistants. Children receive a psychosocial assessment, which entails examining their functioning in a variety of settings, including the home and school. The child's behaviors, emotions and thoughts are evaluated to provide better understanding of how the child is functioning. These results are compared with the norms or expectations of the average child based on child development. This information is used to determine a diagnosis for the child as well as develop a Treatment Plan, which is individualized for each child. Each child admitted to the unit is provided a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation and, if necessary, medication treatments are discussed with the parents/guardians as part of a complete therapeutic regimen. Medication and non-medical interventions, addressing the child's problems are integrated to form a complete Treatment Plan. While hospitalized on the unit, our BOCES program provides educational services. Instruction is provided for students age five through twelve years old. Students can come from a regular or special education classroom The primary goal of this program is to assist each student in maintaining and developing their educational potential during their hospitalization. Children receive twenty-four hour care and supervision by the nursing staff. An initial comprehensive history and assessment is performed on each child upon admission. The nurse will meet with the family and child on the day of admission to provide a tour, explain the unit program, and provide support. The child will be required to follow the unit Behavior Management Program. The unit milieu is structured and employs a point system; children either earn or lose points, based on their behavior. Points can be redeemed for rewards and desired activities. Again, some children may require adaptations of the Behavior Management Program, to meet their individual needs. Your child will participate in a Therapeutic Recreation Program that is designed to facilitate growth in the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social areas, through the use of recreational groups and activities The caregivers of the child are provided Parent Training, which includes teaching the implementation of the Behavior Management Program, while in the hospital and at home. Home Visit Assessments are done at the Teams request. The Social Worker will provide your child with referrals for appropriate services upon discharge, including outpatient follow-up, combining parent training, case management, therapeutic recreation, and any necessary services the child and family may need. Follow-up via telephone, for discharged patients, ensures support and guidance after leaving the hospital.
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