Crisis Intervention Nursing Care

A crisis is a self-limiting and stressful event that upsets a person’s homeostasis and isn’t resolved by the person’s usual coping mechanisms. Crisis intervention can be used by healthcare professionals as a short-term management method for patients experiencing a crisis.

Now, when a person experiences a crisis, they typically progress through six stages. Let's take a closer look at each stage with your patient, Jimmy, who just went through a breakup with his romantic partner.

The first stage of crisis is perception, which occurs when the event is perceived as a crisis. In Jimmy’s case, he experiences this when his partner ends their relationship, which is seen as a threat to his emotional well-being.

The next stage is denial, where the person is unwilling to believe the situation is happening. For Jimmy, denying that the relationship has ended is a protective coping mechanism to shield himself from the overwhelming stress and reality of the breakup.

Then, as denial and other attempts to cope with the crisis fail to resolve the problem, the person enters the third stage, known as crisis. During this stage, anxiety and discomfort continue to rise as Jimmy understands the reality of his situation and begins to exhibit maladaptive behaviors, like projecting his frustrations onto those around him.

The fourth stage, disorganization, is where preoccupation with the crisis impacts the person’s activities of daily living, or ADLs, and quality of life. During this stage, continuing anxiety can result in unpleasant physical symptoms, such as sweating, shaking, and increased heart rate, and even thoughts of self-harm. At this point, Jimmy could either continue with maladaptive behaviors, or he might reach out for help.

This is when Jimmy can receive effective crisis intervention and move to the fifth stage: recovery. During recovery, Jimmy uses successful coping mechanisms like physical activity, meditation, or support systems, such as family, friends, or a spiritual advisor, to process his breakup.

The final stage is reorganization, where Jimmy reengages with his daily roles and routines and begins to move on with his life. He can take what he learned from dealing with his breakup and can even function at a higher level than before the crisis started.

On the other hand, if Jimmy fails to learn and grow from his crisis, he may experience a pseudo-resolution. This is where a new crisis triggers unresolved conflicts from his previous crisis, impairing his ability to successfully resolve the new crisis.