Today I came in to work and got report on a 36 year old male patient, on our rehab/med-surg unit with endocarditis and receiving continuous antibiotics through his PICC line. I go in the room to assess him and give him his 0900 meds and find him to be a pleasant guy. He's been on the unit before so he knows everybody, and he's always up walking around the unit, chatting and laughing good-naturedly with the staff. This was my first time ever having him as a patient.
In our 1pm unit meeting I was suprised to find out that the patient is a known drug user and HIV positive. I was mostly suprised the night nurse didn't pass this on to me in report!
But anyway the day goes on and later in my shift the PCA I'm working alongside comes and tells me she found several syringes and needles wrapped in a washcloth, along with a bendy-straw. The nurse manager calls security and asks the patient about the needles, and he denies they're his. (the patient occupying the room before him was bedridden, so it was unlikely it was hers!) When my shift ended, the doctor had just ordered a urine drug test. I wonder how that went!
I've been an RN for a little over a year, and this is the first time anything like this has happened to me. Anybody else have any stories about interesting things patients have stolen or smuggled into the hospital?
