A Compliance Protocol: Psychiatric Emergency Services and Brief Encounters

Abstract

The documented high rates of noncompliance by psychiatric clients to their disposition plans following psychiatric emergency room treatment are a problem for psychiatric nurses. A compliance protocol is presented that approaches compliance as an interactive collaborative process based on an assumption that clients can participate in the compliance process with varying degrees of responsibility. The protocol includes an organizing system for assessment, nursing diagnoses, and interventions. The components of the protocol, mutuality, decision making, supporting systems, and intentionality are adapted from the Health Belief Model.