Rules and Regulations of the Insane Asylum of California Prescribed by the Resident Physician, August 1, 1861

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RESIDENT PHYSICIAN.

The Resident Physician, who shall also be the Superintendent, shall be the chief executive officer of the Asylum; he shall have the general superintendence of the buildings, grounds, and property, subject to the laws and regulations of the Trustees; he shall have the sole control and management of the patients; he shall ascertain their condition, daily prescribe their treatment, and adopt such sanitary measures as he may think best; he shall appoint, with the approval of the Trustees, so many attendants and assistants as he may think proper and necessary for the economical and efficient performance of the business of the Asylum, prescribe their several duties and places;—he shall, also, from time to time, give such orders and instructions as he may judge best calculated to insure good conduct, fidelity and economy in every department of labor and expense; and he is authorized and enjoined to maintain salutary discipline among all who are employed by the Institution, and uniform obedience to all the rules and regulations of the Asylum.—[State Law of 1858.

FIRST.

“The Assistant Physician shall perform” the “duties, and be subject to the responsibility of the Superintendent, in his sickness or absence, and” he “may call to his aid, for the time being, such medical assistance, as he may deem necessary”—“and perform such other duties as may be directed by the Superintendent and prescribed by the By-Laws.”—[State Law of 1858.

He shall prepare and superintend the administration of medicines, visit the wards frequently, and carefully note the condition and progress of individual cases; see that the directions of the Superintendent are faithfully executed, and promptly report any case of neglect or abuse that may come under his observation, or of which he may be informed.

THIRD.

He shall assist in devising employment and recreation for the patients, and endeavor in every way to promote their comfort and recovery; keep such records of cases as the Superintendent may direct, assist in preparing statistics, and conducting correspondence, and he shall perform such other duties of his office as properly belong thereto.

GENERAL RULES.

1. Persons employed in the service of the Asylum will learn that character, proper deportment, and faithfulness to duty, will alone keep them in the situations in which they are placed; and they should consider well, before entering upon service, whether they are prepared to devote all their time, talents, and efforts, in the discharge of the duties assigned to them. The Institution will deal in strict good faith with its employees, and it will expect, in return, prompt, faithful, and self-denying service.

2. No one can justly take offense when respectfully informed by the Superintendent, that his or her temperament is better adapted to some other employment; and those receiving such information should regard it as kindly given, that they may have opportunity to avoid the unpleasantness of being discharged.

3. Those employed at the Asylum be expected to hold themselves in readiness for duty when directed by its officers; and the neglect of any labor, or duty, on the ground that laboring hours are over, or to hesitate, after proper direction, on such pretexts, will be regarded as evidence against the fitness of the employee for the place he or she may hold.

4. It must be remembered by all the employees, that their duties are peculiar and confidential, and that there is an obvious impropriety in disclosing the names, peculiarities, or acts of the inmates. It should never be forgotten that the most cruel wounds may, by imprudent disclosures, be inflicted on those whose conduct and language, during their misfortune, should be covered with the veil of deepest secrecy. Conversations, in relation to the Asylum and its inmates, sought by the idle and mischievous, should be studiously avoided.

5. All persons employed in the Asylum are required to cultivate a calm and deliberate method of performing their daily duties—carelessness and precipitation being never more out of place than in an insane asylum....