Borderline personality disorder: a pilot survey about clinician views on defensive practice.
OBJECTIVE
To conduct a pilot survey about clinician views on defensive practice when working with adults with borderline personality disorder.


METHODS
All mental health clinicians from adult community, crisis and inpatient services of a district public mental health service who attended a routine team meeting completed a survey questionnaire (n = 29).


RESULTS
Defensive practice was common, with 85% of clinicians having practised in the previous year in a manner that they believed was not in the best interests of their patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings support clinical impressions of a significant gap between clinician views on best practice and actual practice. The potential importance of the findings warrants a comprehensive multicentred study.
Krawitz
Roy
R
Waikato District Health Board, Hamilton, New Zealand. roykrawitz@xtra.co.nz
Batcheler
Mike
M
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D003675:Defensive Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003710:Demography; D006801:Humans; D016365:Liability, Legal; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009520:New Zealand; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011635:Public Health Administration; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000092864:Suicide Prevention