"Donations"

Nurses Relations

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Specializes in PICU.

Just wondering what people think of donating items to patients. I work on a pediatric floor with patients whose parents/families never come to visit and don't have their own clothes. Is it crossing a boundary if "donations" randomly appear in their belongings? We accept clothing donations all the time from strangers - why not from staff? It wouldn't affect patient care in any way - the patients don't know you're giving them clothes - they're too young to know. Thoughts?

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

Usually a hospital department (like Pastoral Care or Volunteer Dept.) will maintain a community closet of donated items.  If someone is in need, you can call someone from that department to bring the necessary item, or grant you access to the supply.  You can donate your own unneeded items to the closet.

This way, you wouldn't be donating to anyone directly and that should take the ethical dilemma  out of it.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I agree with TriciaJ, RN.    Your employer should have a system set up whereby patients who have a legitimate need for donations can receive them -- a system that does not violate the ethical standards of the nursing profession.    The type of donations you are talking definitely cross the line into the realm of "inappropriate."

If your employer does not have a program run by Social Work, Chaplaincy, or some other similar department, then you should be advocating for one.   You should not violate professional standards to "sneak" donations to your favorite patients.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).

In our psych facility we encourage staff to contribute clothing to patients who have none. The clothing gets sent to Admin and it comes to patient as an anonymouse donation. I keep a stack pf Winter jackets and long thermal underwear which I wll donate to our homeless patients when they are discharged.

My adolescents often come to the hospital with nothing but a hospital gown and maybe 1 set of cloths. It their cloths don't meet our gidelines they can't wear it. So we often donat  jeans and t-shirts and under wear. 

When we donate to the community closet we get a raffel ticket for chance for a family trip to Disneyland or Knotts Berry Farm.

Hppy

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.

As other posters have mentioned, the issue becomes questionable when staff are donating directly to specific patients, rather than to, for instance, a unit's donation box which is accessible to all patients. 

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5 hours ago, llg said:

You should not violate professional standards to "sneak" donations to your favorite patients.

Or it could be not so much playing favorites as we tend to think of the negative connotation, but rather just a recognition of 'oh WOW!...this child just...has nothing.' ?

Either way I do agree with everyone else's good advice!

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[Way off topic side note...this site auto-allCAPS the word "WOW!" and adds an exclamation point....I noticed it last week and now again here. I wasn't trying to say an excited 'WOW!' but rather a sad 'WOW!' above...weird.]

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
15 hours ago, JKL33 said:

[Way off topic side note...this site auto-allCAPS the word "WOW!!" and adds an exclamation point....I noticed it last week and now again here. I wasn't trying to say an excited 'WOW!!' but rather a sad 'WOW!!' above...weird.]

No Worries JK I got what you were trying to say!

Hppy

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

I think your simple statement "Many (adolescents) come to us with only a couple pairs of underwear and the clothes they are wearing" should trigger the feels in some people who would want to help. A year ago I asked my friend groups to buy specific sizes of underwear for my preK-8th grade campus. I left that campus but they still have some new underwear (people were generous).

So...if your chaplain/volunteer coordinator/social worker could have that information, maybe that's the easy button? Of course at this moment my institution is not allowing any family to donate gently used clothing. If you have access to a washing machine at work that might be a workaround -- a spin in detergenty hot water seems like a good idea.

Otherwise - and you seem like a person who is ethically on the straight and narrow - if I have to ask the question "is it ethical," while I may mean the best and may be meeting an immediate need, If I have to ask, that's my answer.

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Specializes in Community health.
On 9/3/2020 at 5:48 PM, JKL33 said:

[Way off topic side note...this site auto-allCAPS the word "WOW!" and adds an exclamation point....I noticed it last week and now again here. I wasn't trying to say an excited 'WOW!' but rather a sad 'WOW!' above...weird.]

Yes, I tried to post a gentle “WOW!!” on a post the other day, and this site made me seem way more enthusiastic than I wanted to be. 
 

Edit: it did it again!  Is there no way to turn that off?!?

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Specializes in RETIRED Cath Lab/Cardiology/Radiology.
35 minutes ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

Yes, I tried to post a gentle “WOW!” on a post the other day, and this site made me seem way more enthusiastic than I wanted to be. 
 

Edit: it did it again!  Is there no way to turn that off?!?

Let me look into this, thanks for bringing it to staff attention. ?

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On 9/5/2020 at 9:36 AM, dianah said:

Let me look into this, thanks for bringing it to staff attention. ?

There's something else that's automatic but I forget what it is.  Irksome when it happens but apparently not earth-shattering enough for me to remember exactly what it is.

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