Transference and countertransference issues arising in the context of consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry could be more complex than originally assumed since they include reactions evoked within the frame of a unique "therapeutic triangle" of the patient, the physician, and the C-L psychiatrist. A clinical vignette illustrates how the projective identification process could mediate the relati...

Psychiatry liaison services provide the interface between mental and physical health in the acute medical hospital, however there can be logistical and operational difficulties to overcome. This quality improvement project aimed to improve the timeliness of referrals to a liaison service from an acute hospital through simple interventions of a newsletter, email to staff, and a pilot including a...

OBJECTIVE To develop a working model that provides an understanding of the process of deliberate self-harm and a framework for psychological intervention in an emergency department setting. METHOD A retrospective clinical audit of a consecutive series of 51 deliberate self-harm patients referred to the liaison psychiatry service by the emergency department of an inner city hospital. RESULTS...

Child Psychiatry (as one of the 'Cinderella' specialities) has had to look carefully at its interface with other disciplines and at the management of the referral stage of cases. Because so much of our work is in liaison with others, failure to clarify the expectation of the referral, the degree of collaboration needed and who is taking responsibility for what, results in dissatisfactions and m...

Although not always formally trained in ethics, consultation-liaison (C/L) psychiatrists and psychosomatic medicine physicians who practice in general hospitals frequently see cases laden with ethical questions. In a 2006 survey of members of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, the majority of respondents reported that management of bioethical dilemmas had a significant effect on their work;...

BACKGROUND There are only a few reports on issues related to patient transfer from medical and surgical departments to the psychiatric ward by the consultation-liaison psychiatry service, although it is a common practice. Here, we present a study assessing the factors that influence such transfers. METHOD We examined the demographic and clinical backgrounds of a group of patients transferred ...

Aim: To develop a specific nursing work assessment scale for diabetes liaison nurses to standardize their practice. Background: Currently, there are no validated tools to assess the special practices of diabetes liaison nurses; therefore, the efficacy of these nurses cannot be evaluated properly. Design: The Delphi method, using 12 nurse experts from 8 tertiary hospitals in China, was used to c...