ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the context of the acute care pathway and the role of the acute inpatient unit in providing recovery-focused interventions. It explains the experiences of people who present to acute services in acute distress. The chapter explores the principles of positive risk taking and building resilience to individual risk formulation and risk mitigation strategies. The provision of adult acute inpatient care needs to be considered with respect to the overall acute care pathway where individuals present in crisis and the severity of presentation and the risk to the individual or others is too great to be safely managed within a community setting. Despite the individual nuances in the presentation of acute distress, the therapeutic relationship is the mainstay of the therapeutic arsenal at the disposal of the mental health nurse. An empathic supportive relationship is a prerequisite for building an effective therapeutic alliance which provides a platform for building effective therapeutic interventions.
