Psychiatric nursing consultation in a university medical center

A program of psychiatric nursing consultation was established at a large university medical center in response to requests from nonpsychiatric nurses; they generally felt that patient evaluations provided by the psychiatry liaison service did not have specific application to nursing care. The program is operated by two part-time coordinators who train and supervise the nurse-consultants through monthly group sessions and individual supervision. One aim is to set up ongoing consultative meetings with nursing staffs who request help rather than providing only one-time or crisis consultation. During the program's first year, 146 consultations were given, and an average of 9.5 nursing units received consultation services each month.