Physician executive
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Physician executive · Sep 1991
ReviewPatient dynamics, staff burnout, and consultation-liaison psychiatry.
This paper discusses the valuable role of the consultation-liaison psychiatrist in reducing hospital staff burnout, particularly in working with difficult patients admitted to nonpsychiatric services. Direct patient consultation is a reimbursable service. However, staff-oriented consultation, while not reimbursed by most third-party payers, can be an invaluable means of improving staff-patient relations, reducing liability risk, and alleviating staff stress. The consultation-liaison psychiatrist can be an important element in a hospitalwide, ongoing, comprehensive program to reduce burnout and thereby optimize staff retention and staff effectiveness.