Mental Health Nursing in the General Hospital

The patient in bed nine is medically stable but won’t stop pulling at the lines. A man on the surgical ward has gone quiet and still in a way no one can quite name. Someone has self-harmed and is waiting for an assessment, and the ward team is looking to you. Mental health needs surface constantly in general hospitals, yet most nursing education prepares staff for psychiatric units, not the medical and surgical wards where these situations actually unfold. What This Book Helps You Do This handbook gives mental health and general hospital nurses a practical foundation for consultation-liaison work: assessing psychiatric presentations in acutely unwell patients, recognising delirium and distinguishing it from dementia and depression, conducting capacity and risk assessments that hold up under scrutiny, and supporting patients through self-harm, substance withdrawal, and medically unexplained symptoms. It explains how to answer a referral clearly, document defensibly, and teach ward colleagues so that good practice spreads beyond your shift. What Makes This Book Different Most references in this field are written for physicians or for psychiatric-unit settings. This one is built around the realities of the liaison nurse’s day: the bedside assessment, the ward round, the difficult conversation with a stretched medical team. Each chapter pairs clear clinical explanation with validated tools, realistic case examples, teaching points, and review questions, so the material moves from page to practice. The approach is evidence-informed and grounded in current UK frameworks, including mental capacity law, safeguarding duties, and recognised assessment instruments. This book is for readers who: Work as liaison mental health nurses, or have recently moved into a general hospital post Are general or registered nurses who encounter psychiatric presentations on medical and surgical wards Are nurse practitioners and senior nurses building or supervising a liaison service Are nursing students and newly qualified staff preparing for acute-setting practice Want a structured, bedside-ready reference for delirium, capacity, risk, and self-harm assessment A Clear Place to Begin Liaison nursing asks you to hold psychiatric expertise and medical context at the same time, often under pressure and without a specialist nearby. If you want a clear, practical guide to mental health nursing in the general hospital, this book offers a structured foundation you can return to throughout your practice.