Professional Standards and Misconduct

[font color=330099]An excellent blog by Dr. Brian Carr on the incident in McKinney.[/font]

Dr. Brian Carr
Lubbock Board of Health

After graduating from Texas Tech University in 1980 I sought employment in my field of psychology. I applied and was hired as a nurse technician on the Psychiatric Unit at then Methodist Hospital. I worked the 3-11 second shift and was responsible for the locked area of the unit. This was the area reserved for patients who were a risk to self or others or were otherwise impaired in their reality testing.

In those days there were few laws governing standard of care for mental health services. People would be admitted, sometimes under court order, and were held for up to 72 hours before it was required that they be granted legal representation and were able to challenge the action.

If the attending psychiatrist ordered medication to be given to the patient it was done without regard to their consent. If the patient refused the medication the nursing staff would form a team of 4-8 staff who would forcibly hold the person down and administer an injection. High isolation rooms were used where the lighting and windows were recessed behind steel barriers and a mattress without a frame placed on the floor.

A “Panic Button” was on the wall next to the small nurse’s desk and used if a patient became unmanageable and potentially dangerous. Besides chemical restraints (medications) it was also approved to use leather fittings that could tie a patient down to the bed. Log sheets were required to document observations at regular interval. The attending psychiatrists would make rounds usually once a day while I as staff might be there for 8-12 hours with the patients.

Read more: http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/dr-brian-carr/2015-06-09/professional-standards-and-misconduct#.VXfAqka-fVI