My patient from last week is still in the hospital this week. He was assigned to a different student so I was still able to go check up on him and see his progress. He is a retired Catholic priest who has suffered a massive stroke. His brother had driven up from a few states over but had to return home. The patient had been in assisted living for several years until the point of this stroke. Anyway, since last week, this "person" has sort of taken up residence in the room with the priest. At first, it seemed that she was an interested party, just a bit unkempt and not very well-to-do. She is there a lot...almost around the clock. She isn't related to him, and claims to have met him at the nursing home when visiting her mother (who is now deceased). Well, I have no problem with that, but she doesn't seem to be there to try to help him out--she doesn't DO anything for him. She is obese, and apparently lives in her car--but now she is staying in the hospital room. She is eating the crackers and stuff that is kept in the kitchen for patients and their families. She even uses the call light to come have a MA or nurse assist her to stand (she is really obese). She has asked nurses to do her accucheck, and even requested syringes to give herself insulin (which was denied). I think she just has found a person who is unable to speak and decided to act like an interested party so she can have a free ride for a few days. What would you do about this situation--or would you just let it go? We really don't have any way to verify her story of how she met him, and there is no family in the area to contact (Catholic priest=no offspring). Have you ever had a situation like this?
Weird situation in clinical...advice needed!
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