Voluntary and involuntary commitment in healthcare

Voluntary and involuntary commitment:
Voluntary commitment encompasses a client agreeing to be hospitalized for a specific treatment. In this case, the patient recognizes the condition at hand and acknowledges to benefit from medical management. In the same situation, the patient has a right to request a discharge from the facility. However, the request can be turned down, given the patient’s response to medical intervention. On the other hand, involuntary commitment involves patient admission to a hospital against his/her wish. In this case, the patient must be first identified with danger to self, others, or property (Yarnell, & Kapoor, 2017). Thus the patient has no right to request or force a discharge from the hospital facility.

Based on the presented scenario, I would not recommend that the client be voluntarily committed. The consult is a 14 years old boy who is a child and cannot commit to informed consent. According to the Per, Florida Statute, express and informed consent for admission or treatment is sought from the parent or guardian if the patient is a minor (Swanson et al., 2016). In this case, the client at 14 years is considered a minor and cannot be recommended for voluntary commitment without the parents’ approval. Besides, the client is treated as a psychiatry case; the consult attempted suicide, thus poses a danger to self and in need of treatment. Therefore, considered as incapacitated or incompetents to make informed consent about his treatment. I would recommend a discussion with the parents to make a collective determination to improve the patient’s outcome. It would also comply with state law.

Based on Florida’s laws, the client would be eligible for an involuntary commitment. The law dictates that if the client is minor or incompetent to consent to treatment, express, and informed consent for commitment shall be requested from the parent’s guardian (Swanson et al., 2016). In this case, express and consent from the 14-year client have not considered a condition for admission. Thereby the patient would be involuntarily committed against his wish if the parent’s guardian approves or consents.

The understanding of the state law conformed with my initial recommendation to involuntary committing the client. Its dictates align with the medical considerations. The law, to a great extent, protects medical professionalism. It does not challenge medical decisions, especially where patients’ safety is in the line. Thus the law allows for the provision of the best medical interventions for patients.

In case the client was not eligible for involuntary commitment, I could engage in an open discussion with the parent’s guardian to make them understand that the boy was under intense stress and depression while committing suicide. Thus, despite being medically stabilized, the depression has not subsided, which explains why he has not been able to talk to the medical staff. Therefore, I could recommend that the boy be given more time for counseling to stabilize psychologically before discharge to avoid the scenario’s recurrency. I could also refer them to a psychiatric clinic or hospital facility near their home to ensure the client continues to receive medical care.

Suppose the client was not eligible for involuntary commitment and the medical team opine that it could be necessary, I could follow the legal process and obtain a court order for a temporary involuntary commitment. This could be based on two certificates, one emanating from the psychiatric department (Lemieux, 2020). Therefore, the judge must determine that the patient is held in the hospital on an involuntary basis. This could allow for appropriate medical interventions to improve the patient’s outcomes, pending subsequent considerations.

References

Yarnell, S., & Kapoor, R. (2017). Voluntary and Involuntary Hospitalization. In Psychiatry and the Law (pp. 53-61). Springer, Cham.

Lemieux, A. (2020). The Baker Act: Time for Florida to Get Its Act Together. Child and Family Law Journal, 8(1), 5.

Swanson, J. W., Easter, M. M., Robertson, A. G., Swartz, M. S., Alanis-Hirsch, K., Moseley, D., … & Petrila, J. (2016). Gun violence, mental illness, and laws that prohibit gun possession: evidence from two Florida counties. Health Affairs, 35(6), 1067-1075.

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