Stupid Social Worker Tricks, Episode Lucky Number 13*

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A thought hit me like a bolt of lightening the other night, one that I'd never considered before.

One hospital that I work in has a policy that states a sitter must be in a room at all times if there is someone there who has made a suicide attempt or threats. The sitter has to stay until after the mental health evaluation (that would be where I come in. Bless those poor souls.) They had someone actually try to hang herself in the bathroom, you see, and so they're now taking serious precautions to ensure it doesn't happen again (read: Oh, Mr. Attorney! What big a big lawsuit you have!). Not that it's a bad policy...just that it's reactionary. Go figure.

At any rate, these sitters go in the rooms and sit.

And sit.

And sit.......

And pretty soon they either a) become part of the scenery or b) become the entertainment for the Suicidal One in question. I always ask thank the sitters for their time and then ask them to leave so I can give the patient the privacy they deserve when I start peppering them with my probing, annoying, invasive, nosey questions.

What I've NEVER done is ask the sitter what the patient, in passing, may have said to them or others about their state of mind. It's always helpful to get every perspective I can before I make a decision. Those sitters potentially have mounds of dirt to dish out because they've been, you know, sitting, and therefore listening, for a while before I make my appearance.

It's the equivalent of going into a business office of any sort and ignoring the secretary. You just don't. Because they know. Everything.

DUH! ->

*I should post this one on a Friday the 13th, except there isn't one until February. I'm quite sure I'll do another stupid thing before that and then my karma would be blown. Ah, well.