Child and Adolescent Mental Health Issues

Lake Fellowship member Karen Wendt (MA, RN, PHN) is the program director for the child/adolescent acute psychiatric inpatient service for ages 5-18  at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. She has been a psychiatric nurse for the past 27 years, working in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings throughout North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.  In addition to her role of managing staff and patients, Karen coordinated the design and opening of the new 20-bed Child/Adolescent Mental Health Unit, 12-bed Intensive Treatment Center, pool, and playground from an $11.2 million philanthropic donation. The new unit opened in November 2012.  
Karen will review the question of why children and adolescents are hospitalized and will outline effective integrative approaches to stabilization. She will also discuss approaches that could be applied in the community setting to prevent hospitalizations.