Elaborates on standards of care for assessment, management, and treatment of hospitalized suicidal patients. Attempts to synthesize concepts of minimal standard of care with clinical risk management and clinical judgment. Points out areas of overlap and shows where optimum care diverges from legal standards of care. Tables differentiate…

Investigated ways in which clinicians (n=27) and parasuicidal student-patients (n=52) perceive several theoretical dimensions related to suicide: psychological pain, external pressures/stressors, agitation/emotional upsetness, self-regard, and hopelessness. Data suggest that clinicians and patients independently perceived most of these dimensions…

Presented 33 case histories of suicidal patients to crisis workers (N=19) for ratings of short- and long-term suicide risk. Ratings revealed considerable variability raising question about reliability of such global assessments. The variability, as measured by the standard deviation, was comparable between short-term and long-term ratings.…