Nursing care hours of patients receiving varying amounts and types of consultation/liaison services.

Psychiatric comorbidities in the general hospital population have been found to increase the cost of health care. This descriptive study provides an in-depth analysis (including nursing hours), of general hospital patients receiving low, medium, and high intensity consultation/liaison (C/L) services from C/L psychiatrists and C/L nurses using computerized databases and the medical record. The results show that there are significant differences among the subgroups receiving varying amounts of C/L services. This study has particular significance for C/L nursing as many C/L nursing interventions are focused on both the patient and the delivery of nursing care by the staff nurse.