Healthcare Behavioral Health Crisis Response for Healthcare Professionals™

What you will learn

This program has four parts. By the end of each part, you should be able to:

Part 1: Foundations of Behavioral Health Crisis Recognition, Assessment & Initial Response

• Recognize common presentations, triggers, and early warning signs of behavioral health crises in healthcare settings.
• Use appropriate behavioral health terminology and mental status observations to describe patient presentation clearly and professionally.
• Identify suicide risk, self-harm concerns, and substance use-related crisis indicators that require immediate attention or escalation.
• Apply trauma-informed, patient-centered communication strategies during initial crisis response.
• Support patient and staff safety by selecting appropriate immediate actions, boundaries, and escalation pathways.
• Differentiate key legal, ethical, and role-based responsibilities during behavioral health crisis response.

Part 2: Crisis Intervention, Verbal De-escalation & Safe Patient Management

• Apply core crisis intervention principles to behavioral health emergencies in healthcare settings.
• Use verbal and nonverbal de-escalation techniques to reduce agitation while preserving patient dignity.
• Recognize escalating behaviors and select safe, appropriate responses to agitation, aggression, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and substance use-related crises.
• Coordinate team-based crisis responses that improve safety for patients, staff, and bystanders.
• Document behavioral emergencies clearly and defensibly while meeting legal and ethical responsibilities.
• Evaluate crisis response decisions through legal, ethical, and workplace safety lenses.

Part 3: Behavioral Health Emergencies, Suicide Prevention & Trauma-Informed Response

• Recognize behavioral health emergencies and distinguish urgent warning signs from routine distress.
• Apply suicide prevention and intervention principles during healthcare encounters.
• Conduct focused suicide and self-harm risk assessments and identify immediate safety priorities.
• Use trauma-informed communication and de-escalation strategies during behavioral crises.
• Coordinate stabilization, referral, documentation, and interdisciplinary follow-up using ethical and safety-centered practice.

Part 4: Recovery, Crisis Stabilization, Care Coordination & Professional Practice

• Apply recovery-oriented principles during post-crisis support and stabilization.
• Conduct post-crisis assessment and identify factors that affect discharge readiness and follow-up care.
• Coordinate care with families, caregivers, community resources, and interdisciplinary teams.
• Document behavioral health crisis response accurately while meeting legal, ethical, and policy requirements.
• Use culturally responsive and advocacy-centered approaches in recovery and care transitions.
• Recognize staff resilience risks and contribute to quality improvement after behavioral health crises.

Program details

• Self-paced online program for healthcare professionals
• Program length: 10 hours, in four parts
• Includes graded assessments you must pass to complete the program
• Earn a downloadable Certificate of Completion upon successful program completion—ideal for documenting professional development and submitting to your employer for potential reimbursement
• Each certificate has a verification ID that employers can check at nahcp.com/verify

Program length describes the length of the program, not a number of continuing-education credits. Check with your employer or licensing board before submitting a program for credit or reimbursement.