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Psychosocial Ch5Wk4
Legal Issues
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Duty To Warn Others | warn of threatened suicide or harm; Failure to warn, if it results in injury to the threatened person, can lead to civil damages for malpractice. |
Assault | the fear of physical contact or the person’s mental security; deliberate threat coupled with the apparent ability to do physical harm to another; No actual contact is necessary; Verbally threatening a patient that you are going to force the to take med ag |
Battery | the actual physical contact; intentional touching of another’s person, in a socially impermissible manner, without that person’s consent; |
False Imprisonment | Unlawful restraint of an individual’s personal liberty or the unlawful restraint or confinement of an individual; may be implied by words, threats, or gestures |
Examples of Falst Imprisonment | Excessive force used to restrain a patient; Preventing a patient from leaving a healthcare facility; Wrongfully committing a patient to a psychiatric facility |
Commitment Issues | Voluntary Patients; Involuntary Patients (Commitment) |
Involuntary Patients (Commitment) | Mental illness is not equivalent to incompetence; individual who has the legal capacity to consent to treatment refuses to do so; individuals who are a danger to self or others because of a mental disorder; “gravely disabled”. |
Voluntary Patients | Individual or their therapist requests admission and signs appropriate document, including consent to treatment; the patient signs themselves out at the end of stay; Grace period (48-72 hrs) for assessment |
Involuntary Patients categories | Emergency Care Short-term observation and treatment Long-term commitment (3, 6, or 12 months); Usually implies inpatient care, but can also be outpatient |
Emergency Care | Authorized person (such as police officer) signs documents to place an individual under involuntary care; Length of involuntary status varies from state to state; 48 to 72 hours is average |
Short-term Observation | Qualified expert determines that person has a treatable mental disorder; Certification hearing takes place to determine if there is probable cause. |
“Probable cause” | known facts would lead an ordinary person to believe that the detained person is mentally disordered and is a danger to self or others. |
Long-Term Commitment | person who needs prolonged psychiatric care but refuses to seek help voluntarily; Can last from 90 days to much longer; Usually brought before a hearing officer – decreases the possibility of someone being railroaded into a mental hospital. |
“Gravely disabled” | inability to provide food, clothing, and shelter for oneself because of a mental illness; viewed by the legal system as incompetent. Loses rights such as the right to marry, vote, drive a car, and enter into contracts; establishes conservator (guardian) |
Patient's Right-Treatment with Least Restrictive Environment | Central to the ideology of the deinstitutionalization movement. |
“Restraint” | broad term used to characterize any form of limiting a person’s movement or access to his or her own body; physical holds, bed rails, lap trays, restraint devices, and medications; FDA has estimated that at least 100 restraint-related deaths occur each ye |
“Seclusion” | the process of isolating a person in a room in which they are physically prevented from leaving. |
General Guidelines for Restraint Use | Special training Consider alternatives Physician’s order within 1 hour Least restrictive device Careful documentation of justification Orders contain: type of restraint, rationale, time limit; PRN orders not allowed – eminent risk; Death of any pt w |
Right to Give or Refuse Consent | In case of psychiatric emergency, meds can be given without consent to prevent harm to self or others |
Suspension of Rights | Occasionally, suspending rights for the protection of patient or others and for therapeutic purposes is necessary; Requires good documentation - Right suspended and rationale |