Convalescent Hospital turning Psych

[wooosp]

I work for in a convalescent hospital with 200+ beds. Administration has recently changed and with that we've been dealing with the politics of them wanting to admit mostly if not only medicare pt's. $$$$$$$$ (That's another problem)

There have been talks about them turning half of our facility into a locked psych facility, so now what they've been doing is admitting pts who are ambulatory, homeless and have endless psych issues. Some of these pt's are coming from locked facilities. It just makes me sick to see these HIV+, Psychotic, Multi-drug abusers, Molesters walking around the middle of the day and nite with helpless grandma around. Not only that, most of them are young (

Has this happened in your facility? Is there some kind of regulation or law that against this? It's really sad and upsetting.

Any advice?

[msdobson]

I work for in a convalescent hospital with 200+ beds. Administration has recently changed and with that we've been dealing with the politics of them wanting to admit mostly if not only medicare pt's. $$$$$$$$ (That's another problem)

There have been talks about them turning half of our facility into a locked psych facility, so now what they've been doing is admitting pts who are ambulatory, homeless and have endless psych issues. Some of these pt's are coming from locked facilities. It just makes me sick to see these HIV+, Psychotic, Multi-drug abusers, Molesters walking around the middle of the day and nite with helpless grandma around. Not only that, most of them are young (

Has this happened in your facility? Is there some kind of regulation or law that against this? It's really sad and upsetting.

Any advice?

Address your safety concerns with the DON and/or ADON. Then follow it up the chain of command to ADMIN. If you have to, tell them it is a lawsuit waiting to happen. That word usually gets their attention.

Good Luck

[oneLoneNurse]

I work for in a convalescent hospital with 200+ beds. Administration has recently changed and with that we've been dealing with the politics of them wanting to admit mostly if not only medicare pt's. $$$$$$$$ (That's another problem)

There have been talks about them turning half of our facility into a locked psych facility, so now what they've been doing is admitting pts who are ambulatory, homeless and have endless psych issues. Some of these pt's are coming from locked facilities. It just makes me sick to see these HIV+, Psychotic, Multi-drug abusers, Molesters walking around the middle of the day and nite with helpless grandma around. Not only that, most of them are young (

Has this happened in your facility? Is there some kind of regulation or law that against this? It's really sad and upsetting.

Any advice?

We have similar cases sometimes on our locked psych unit. Sometimes 1/2 dual diagnosed and the other half geriatric. Its very scary.

If there's not I feel there should be. No way would I want my 87 year old father who suffers from Alzheimers on my unit.

[NurseElaine]

woosp, I worked at a facility in Ca where pretty much the exact same thing happened. These 'newer' patients created major problems in that the other residents and staff members safety became a concern. For some strange reason, it was "difficult" per admin to have them transferred elsewhere. There were a couple instances where the police were called in d/t violence and aggression exhibited by the younger residents who were very manipulative and put on acts of good behavior in police presence. The situation was totally out of control. Most of the residents that had been there for many years were being transferred to other facilities to make room for those that had multi psych issues. Nurses that had worked there 10+ yrs. ended up quitting. It really is sad and upsetting. Not much can be done about it that I'm aware of. When new administration takes over, they definitely have there own agenda. Good luck.