Go find your patient

If the patient was suicidal, who brought them in? Shouldn't that person or persons be the ones responsible for making sure the patient is there when called for treatment?

So...you saw "suicidal gesture" on the chart, couldn't see the patient from where you were standing, shrugged your shoulders and went on to the next patient? Nice.

Well, maybe the nice part is where you think it's ridiculous that you should look for him.
You also say "what if they are on the other side of the hospital grounds which can be pretty far away?".
How about this: what if they were in an empty room cutting their wrists? What if they were in the bathroom tying their belt around their neck?

At least tell someone, for crying out loud! I know it's a lot of trouble for you to go through.

Here is my question: Where are the parents!? Just because a parent takes the kid to the hospital does not relieve them of all responsiblity to keep the child in the proper areas so that the child can recieve the treatment they need.

Am I the only one wondering about the "responsible" adult that brought the child in to the hospital. I am a parent myself and I can tell you that if you child was suicidal enough that I felt they needed help their little butts would be sitting in the waiting room when their names were called. Why does suddenly become the healthcare provider's responsiblity to keep these people's children from misbehaving?

Exactly! It's not where's the patient - it's where's the flipping parent!

I'd think if they were able to be outside running around they wouldn't really need to be in the ED.

Some of these docs are nuts, aren't they?

Let him go find him.

I don't think that a suicidal gesture is as simple as misbehaving. IMO, it's the healthcare provider's responsibility because that's what they do, provide healthcare....and because it's a child.

How about this: a parent realizes momentarily through his/her own psychotic or drugged up haze that their child needs help. They get it together enough so that they bring the child to the ED but are unable to hold on enough to ensure treatment. For whatever reason they leave. Does the child then not get treatment because the 'responsible' adult left? And if the child being a child leaves...........

What about the parent that drops off a newborn that they don't want? Isn't there some type of law that allows abandonment with no questions asked as long as the child/baby is taken to a safe place? Isn't a hospital considered a safe place? What if the child was abandoned? Isn't abandonment some sort of abuse, and don't you call in the authorities if a child is suspected of being abused?

I don't mean to say that you should chase after patients who don't answer or that you should have necessarily spent an inordinate amount of time looking for this child. What I am saying is that with a c/c such as he had, yes, it would have been appropiate to spend a little more time not only looking but also informing someone else, anyone else of the situation.

All I can see is "suicidal gesture".

So...you saw "suicidal gesture" on the chart, couldn't see the patient from where you were standing, shrugged your shoulders and went on to the next patient? Nice.

Well, maybe the nice part is where you think it's ridiculous that you should look for him.
You also say "what if they are on the other side of the hospital grounds which can be pretty far away?".
How about this: what if they were in an empty room cutting their wrists? What if they were in the bathroom tying their belt around their neck?

At least tell someone, for crying out loud! I know it's a lot of trouble for you to go through.