legal blood alcohol

[yankee nurse09]

what is the procedure for obtaining a consent for a legal blood alcohol level for instance if a patient were to come to the ER after an MVC and admitted to ETOH and Xanax use prior to the wreck and police brought in kit asked patient to consent or they would have to obtain a court order pt agrees to consent to blood work is it legal to ask a patient to consent/sign their name to the form if they are intoxicated

[lovedaisy27]

LunahRN- I live in FL so it may be different. Also- I'm sure the perspective from a nurse and an attorney is different, it many be the policy to go ahead and draw the blood, but it may become unusable evidence later. Let me know what you find as I'm interested in what other hospitals policies are on this issue now.

[flashpoint]

Some states have an implied consent law that states that by operating a morot vehicle, you are consenting to breath / blood testing for alcohol. It could probably be argued that if you were sober and able to give consent to blood alcohol testing that you would give consent, so consent could be implied there too. Also, I think you lose some degree of right to refuse when you are in custody of law enforcement, so although they won't force you to have your blood drawn they will do it with your consent.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

OP -- this is state-specific, so the input of others in other states really doesn't help you. Ask your manager, nurse educator, or look up your facility's policy yourself.

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

Arkansas is implied consent, and an intoxicated consent is valid.

[quietstudent]

So the police make the decision and order the blood draw? If the patient is under restraint is this a factor? What if the patient refuses to sign anything? I'm in Colorado as well and recently encountered a situation where police ordered a forced blood draw on a patient in a routine traffic matter (no bodily injury) and the patient was released shortly afterwards.

[quietstudent]

Patient was not a happy camper and had a bit of a potty mouth. No injuries but somewhat traumatized by the experience.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

Where I work we can request a BAC or urine drug screen if we deem it necessary. For patients coming in with a behavioral health evaluation, a BAC and urine is part of the routine lab work.

[mish_RN]

Here in TX, our techs draw those labs. The pts can either consent or not, if they don't, they get an extra charge. PD brings their own consent and kits. However, if the pts are already under custody, PD doesn't need consent.