title: Emergency room on weekends: the only game in town.
abstract: Because it is often the only source of help available on weekends, the hospital emergency room must function as a social as well as a medical agency. In this situation, the social worker can help patients who have psychosocial problems that the medical staff are not trained or willing to handle. This article identifies the types of difficult patients frequently encountered in the emergency room and the specialized social work techniques that can help them.
mesh_terms: D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006801:Humans; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012947:Social Work; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014504:Urban Health