It is typically carried out by a psychiatrist, but it can be a multi-disciplinary process involving nurses, psychologists, occupational therapist, social workers, and licensed professional counselors.
A psychiatric assessment is most commonly carried out for clinical and therapeutic purposes, to establish a diagnosis and formulation of the individual's problems, and to plan their care and treatment.
A forensic assessment may be required of an individual who has been charged with a crime, to establish whether the person has the legal competence to stand trial.
[3][pages needed] A standard part of any psychiatric assessment is the obtaining of a body of social, demographic and biographical data known as the history.
Certain behaviors and beliefs may be misinterpreted as features of mental illness by a clinician who is from a different cultural background than the individual being assessed.
[6][pages needed] The purpose of the MSE is to obtain a comprehensive cross-sectional description of the patient's mental state.
The data are collected through a combination of direct and indirect means: unstructured observation while obtaining the biographical and social information, focused questions about current symptoms, and formalized psychological tests.
The physical examination would include measurement of body mass index, vital signs such as pulse, blood pressure, temperature and respiratory rate, observation for pallor and nutritional deficiencies, palpation for lymph nodes, palpation of the abdomen for organ enlargement, and examination of the cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological systems.
A nursing assessment includes risk assessment (risk of suicide, aggression, absconding from hospital, self-harm, sexual safety in hospital and medication compliance), physical health screening, and obtaining background personal and health information from the person being admitted and their carers.
The immediate purpose of the nursing assessment is to determine the required level of care and supervision, and to have a plan to manage disturbed behavior.