Psychiatric Inpatient Care

​​​​​The Psychiatric Inpatient Center at Boys Town National Research Hospital provides immediate intervention and stabilization for children with severe behavioral and mental health crises.

Our 16-bed state-of-the-art facility will provide the highest level of care and safety for children, ages 5-17, who need psychiatric hospitalization. The Psychiatric Inpatient Center includes classrooms, a gymnasium, living spaces and recreational areas. Patients receive treatment and care from a multidisciplinary team of board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrists, pediatricians and pediatric specialists, highly trained psychiatric nurses, and social workers.

Upon leaving the Center, patients may be referred to one of Boys Town’s lower levels of care, such as residential treatment, outpatient care, telehealth or in-home services to meet the behavioral and mental health needs of the child and family. The length of stay at the Center is typically short with the average stay about seven days.

Our multidisciplinary team includes:

• Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist - Children will be assigned a child and adolescent psychiatrist to oversee his/her care and treatment. Either the assigned psychiatrist or the covering psychiatrist will see your child daily. A psychiatrist is on-call for the unit 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Program Director - The program director is a licensed registered nurse who supervises all aspects of the program. The program director works closely with the medical director to maintain a high-quality treatment program and to develop staff who are well trained, enthusiastic and team-focused.
• Director of Social Work - The Center has a master’s-prepared social worker on the team. The social worker will primarily be responsible for the discharge planning and utilization review coverage component of treatment. The social worker will work closely with the treatment team in exploring discharge plans and coordinating best options.
• Nurses - A psychiatric nurse is available to patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Nursing staff members dispense medication and oversee all other medical care ordered by the physician. Nurses also supervise day-to-day care provided to patients by the psychiatric technicians.
• Certified Teachers - Your child will be assessed by the certified teacher to determine his/her educational level upon admission to the program. Home schools will be contacted for potential IEPs and assignments.
• Psychiatric Technicians (PTs) - The Center employs enough psychiatric technicians to ensure a constant safe ratio of staff to patients. Technicians are specially trained and supervised to consistently provide the highest quality of care for your child. Most staff have at least a college degree and many are working toward higher degrees to improve their skills in serving troubled children and their families.
• Child Life - Some children need extra special attention to help ease anxieties during a hospital stay. Our child life specialists are professionals who combine therapeutic planning and education to explain diagnoses in a way children of all ages can understand. They are skilled in helping plan and implement coping strategies such as deep breathing and distraction techniques.