Risk Assessment

The news media has always been in the business of searching for "the right sort of madness" to capture the public's imagination.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, incarcerated psychiatric patients at Bellevue Hospital had to be evacuated, without the help of elevators, electronic or phone communication, or even running water. Here, Director of Forensic Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, Elizabeth Ford, MD, gives a first-hand account.

Can patient care still be your greatest concern, given today’s litigious landscape? Does patient-focused care need to take a back seat against protecting yourself from malpractice?

What steps should you take to avoid being sued? The answer to this all important question can be heard in this video, which stars Skip Simpson, a nationally recognized attorney who has spent his career litigating medical malpractice cases.

Assessments of partial culpability of adolescents are difficult in individual cases; however, the courts are moving away from mandatory sentencing to individual determinations, even for the most heinous crimes.

The new annual suicide rate of 12.0 per 100,000 people translates into 100.8 suicides per day and 1 suicide every 14.3 minutes. Here, you will find tools and tips to help identify patients at risk.

This Tipsheet serves as quick reference for a complex problem: Screening for suicide risk.

Patients with borderline personality disorder can present with multiple crises and minor incidents of self-harm or threats, but determining when the actions are true cause for concern can be a challenge. This Tipsheet offers quick reference for clinicians.

Here we present the case of Mr P, a 40-year-old man with bipolar disorder and substance use disorder, including his symptomology, treatment subsequent to hospitalization, concerns for risk, and the outcome.

In this video, Dr Marianne Goodman gives a brief synopsis on results of a DOD risk assessment study of suicidal veterans presented at the APA Annual Meeting. The study showed that single attempters did not differ from multiple attempters on any variable except a history of childhood physical abuse.

Inpatient suicides are viewed as the most avoidable and preventable because they occur in close proximity to staff. Early in the admission is a clear high-risk period, but risk declines more slowly for some patients. Included here are factors that may guide the clinician in treating these at-risk patients.

While approximately 1 in 4 outpatient suicides will result in a claim, about 1 in 2 inpatient suicides will result in a claim. The two highest suicide risk times for hospitalized patients are the 1st week after admission and shortly after discharge. Here, learn about likely likely causes of increased suicide risk at discharge in this population.

In the last lecture of a week-long visiting professorship at Yale School of Medicine, Harvard Professor, Thomas Gutheil, MD, spoke about boundary issues in clinical practice. Here Dr Gutheil touches on key points covered in his presentation.

In treating a female who sexually abuses a minor, what should the clinician keep in mind? Is the treatment plan different for a female offender than a male?

Several studies have been undertaken to test the efficacy of drugs in the management of aggression and hostility in patients with schizophrenia and other mood disorders.

Agitated individuals—defined as displaying “excessive verbal and/or motor behavior”—can be loud, disruptive, hostile, sarcastic, threatening, or hyperactive, even combative. Here, Dr Zeller discusses new patient-centered interventions for agitation, endorsed as part of new, comprehensive Best Practices guidelines.

This elderly man no longer has decision-making capacity. What legal resource does he have in this case?

Mrs E, who is 80 years old, lives in the community with the help of a 24-hour-a-day home health aide. She is forgetful and requires assistance with many activities of daily living.

Here, Mr Hazelwood answers questions about serial murderers that are commonly posed to him. The term serial murderer (or serial killer) was not even a part of the forensic lexicon until the 1970s . . .

We will remember Professor Shuman as an exceptional scholar, a valued collaborator, and a cherished friend.

In this podcast, Dr Thomas Gutheil talks about a key challenge facing psychiatrists. . . valid medical record keeping. Here: important tips from an expert based on an article he coathored with Dr. Robert Simon.

In the second in his series of podcasts, Dr Phillip Resnick answers questions psychiatrists often ask about assessing the risk of violence.