Legal and Ethical Challenges in Emergency Psychiatry, Part 2: Management of Inmates.

Psychiatrists and clinicians encounter unique situations, challenges, and requirements in the treatment of jail and prison inmates in the emergency department. This article reviews the historical legal highlights pertaining to medical and psychiatric care of inpatients, as well as the professional, ethical, and legal aspects that allow clinicians to evaluate, treat, and properly disposition their inmate patients. In particular, this article discusses the specific suicide risk factors related to inmates and correctional facilities that should be ascertained and managed in a clinician's suicide risk assessment and intervention planning in this special high suicide risk patient population.