In a mental status exam, it is important to determine if the individual's sensorium is clear and if he/she is "oriented times three." this refers to

This refers to person, place, and time. The mental status examination or (MSE) is a test to describe the psychological function / mental state of a patient. MSE is developed by Karl Jaspers which comes from the approach known as descriptive psychopathology. In mental status examination, the doctors observes the patient by assessing the appearance, attitude, behavior, and speech of the patient to known the mental disorder of the patient.