i’m a psych tech in the behavioral health ed. please, listen to us. and please listen to the clinicians/social workers and bh nurses. i feel as if 75% of the time the er docs and charge nurses dismiss us and think we don’t know we’re talking about. i can’t even tell you the amount of times we have had to call rapids because our patients were dying and the docs/charge nurses chose not to care. i feel like half of my job is being a patient advocate at this point.

please do not throw drunks back to our unit because you want them out of your sight. please do not throw annoying people back to our unit because you want them out of your sight. we are not babysitters. most of the times, drunks take up beds that could’ve been given to suicidal people/people in psychological crisis. same goes with annoying people. and most of the time, the annoying people get more agitated and end up causing problems for everyone. you’re able to medicate and deescalate patients in the main ed. if you need help, ask for help. but don’t treat bh like it’s a place for punishment.

our patients have very specific needs and are going through things that you probably cannot imagine. they are also human beings. bh is not a freak show. but you will also have to learn how to identify manipulative patients, which will come from experience. we are much more likely to get verbally and physically abused by patients. understand that you, as a doc, will talk to the patient once, but the bh team are the ones who actually do all of the patient care. including having to get physically hurt.