Psychologists in Public Inpatient Psychiatric Settings: Ethical Dilemmas

Psychologists face new ethical dilemmas as their roles expand in public hospital psychiatric units. Clinical and administrative practices indicate psychological values, models, and interventions are useful and effective when serving seriously mentally ill inpatients. Issues addressing the clinical, administrative, and training competence of psychologists in public hospital settings are discussed. It is recommended that national guidelines be developed to be used by state licensing and hospital credentialing boards in verifying preparation for public inpatient psychiatric practice.