Voluntary Admission - What to expect
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Hi all I have had quite a few private admissions at a specific clinic and thought I'd share some hints. Your GP can refer you to a clinic, but one of the psychiatrists with admitting rights must agree to take you on. Once you have a psychiatrist who ... View more
Hi all I have had quite a few private admissions at a specific clinic and thought I'd share some hints. Your GP can refer you to a clinic, but one of the psychiatrists with admitting rights must agree to take you on. Once you have a psychiatrist who can admit you, you will be contacted by intake at the hospital. They do a brief history and risk assessment and check how you plan to pay for the admission. Once you arrive at the hospital, you will be required to fill in a variety of forms (details, mood evaluation, fund forms, privacy). You are then met by your nurse who shows you to your room. They conduct a bags search, take medication and any items not allowed to be held onto by you. You are then interviewed by the nurse who does a history and asks why you have come in. You work on goals for your stay such as stabilising mood, attending groups, improving sleep etc they will also take your observations, such as temperature, blood pressure, height and weight. You then get a tour of the hospital. Important things to look for include coffee making facilities, lounges and which courtyard most patients congregate to. You then will see your psychiatrist who will work out a plan in terms of medication but they will also spend a bit of time getting to know what brings you in and makes a clinical assessment of condition and symptoms. After this day, you settle in and go to meals etc During the week there are group therapy classes run. These might be supportive therapy which is where everyone tries to help each other through their difficulties together, it might be a more formalised structure where you learn about the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, learning about distress tolerance or it might be mindfulness. There are usually classes about what to do when you leave, so about outpatient programs and supports. My hospital also has sessions run by people with lived experience which is helpful advice. There is also an art room which is very busy with lots of materials. People can do whatever they like and some art produced is amazing. There will be some exercise groups like yoga and Pilates and if you have leave you can go with a group for a walk. Your psychiatrist will see you most weekdays and monitor your progress. They can refer you to psychologists and dietitians. Nurses will see you twice a day for a chat but also observe you on the ward. My biggest piece of advice is to chat to other patients. I've played uno before.
