Whenever I read a really horrible story on CNN local or the LA Times, about a terrible suicide or someone seriously psychologically disturbed who goes on a shooting rampage on the corner of Vine and Sunset, my heart races while I try to place the name. Did I know that person? Did I take care of him? Did I let him go too soon?
It hasn't happened yet, but I worry that one of these days, I'm going to recognize the name as one of my patients.
And that, my friends, is why I'm so conservative when it comes to discontinuing holds, why I'm so reluctant to discharge my patients too quickly, and probably why our psych ER is constantly full.
3 years ago
