Patient says he's going to commit suicide what do you do?

[Jonari]

Saw this question and my friends and I were discussing it. We all know that if a patient says they're going to commit suicide you hospitalize them without any questions and put them on observation. However, this question stated that "you're a 2nd year medical student and a patient informs you they want to kill themselves. what's the next course of action?"

The two answers that we were puzzled over were:

i. Admit them into hospital for observation.
ii. Contact the attending and inform them about the situation.

I was thinking the first answer, but a friend mentioned that when do 2nd year med students do rounds in the hospital, which is a good point. So, is the 2nd answer choice the correct one?

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[jackets5]

Immediately report it to your intern/resident and they will contact attending etc.

 

[DrBowtie]

2nd year MS can not admit people to the hospital. I'd choose B

 

[usmlepro123]

Agree - the answer is B...

 

[usmlepro123]

And if they're homicidal you have notify police AND the person who is at risk

 

[Jonari]

2nd year MS can not admit people to the hospital. I'd choose B

Is there a chain of command, or is it just a simply that 2nd years can't admit. I think it's a poorly written question.

 

[CDI]

Wait, so can III/IV MS admit patients to hospitals in the US?

I would think you'd have to have a medical license to authorize a hold for observation. In other words, its neither a chain of command issue, nor being a 2nd year. It's just the fact that they don't have a medical license.

Even if the II MS let the patient walk, and the pt then attempted suicide, they haven't done anything illegal. Just dumb for not informing the attending. The attending on the other hand would be in deep ****, if they were informed of the suicidal tendency and let them go.