Patient is a sex offender with a tracker on his ankle

Nurses General Nursing

Published

When I received shift report for my very ill, bed-bound patient, the RN giving report pointed out the tracker affixed to his anklet. She had admitted him a few hours earlier and did not know the details and there was nothing noted in his chart. Before she left, she looked online and he is a convicted sex offender (lewd and lascivious with a minor under the age of 14).

Is it appropriate to add this new information (pedophilia) to your shift report? To his chart?

I agree with the others; snooping into the patient's background online is inappropriate. I would neither chart on this information nor pass it on in report. All of these are unprofessional acts that are not undertaken in the patient's best interest. Anyone so concerned about the ankle monitor should be more concerned with checking the area for pressure points, circulatory compromise and skin breakdown in a very ill bed-bound patient than why the patient is wearing it!

That said, there are situations (different than the OP, obviously) in which the patient verbalizes concerns about legal restrictions or concerns about complying with probation conditions while hospitalized - or some other issue directly related to his/her legal situation. A social work consult is often appropriate if available. Legitimate nursing actions undertaken at the patient's request should be factually documented without going into unnecessary detail and passed on for follow-up.

Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
I'd be more concern about what to do with the tracker. Can it around the CT scanner? MRI? Will it effect the ECG? What if the pt codes?

Also, the bracelets have to be charged so it's important to know how to charge it and where the charger is.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
I understand the point you're making but in my opinion that responsibility falls squarely on Nurse Snooping Susan, OP's coworker. Since she chose to do something (likely for the purpose of satisfying her curiosity) which might even be against facility policy for all we know. If anyone should do anything, I think she's the one who needs to assume ownership of the ensuing mess. .

I agree that the nurse was wrong to snoop. If she felt concerned for her safety or the safety of others, she should have communicated her concerns through the proper channels and not taken it upon herself to snoop.

Once the OP knows the information, she cannot "un-know" it. If she has concerns/questions, she needs to communicate through the proper channels as well -- seeking guidance as needed. Also, when she discusses it with her manager (or whomever), she will be reporting the snoop, who probable needs some guidance about how to handle the situation, too. Using the proper channels is a win-win all around (though the snoop may not agree with that.)

Anyone so concerned about the ankle monitor should be more concerned with checking the area for pressure points, circulatory compromise and skin breakdown in a very ill bed-bound patient than why the patient is wearing it!

This. It is important to pass it on in report for the simple fact that it is present and the area around it needs to be assessed for developing problems.

Specializes in Critical care.

Just throwing it out there that some people end up labeled as sex offenders for urinating in public. His charge is very vauge and it's not up to us to judge.

Specializes in Hospice.

When I worked acute care we had a contract with the local federal prison and the county jail. I never wanted to know what their charge was that way it wouldn't influence my care or how I treated the patient.

This is why verbal reports exist. Pass it on in report, people will be aware and you can still maintain plausable deniability.

Specializes in school nurse.

Well, registry listings are public knowledge and are meant to be accessible to the community. Not saying that it was the best idea to open that can of worms in the inpatient setting, but nothing illegal was done...

Specializes in Pedi.

When I worked in the hospital (peds neuro), we had a teenage patient admitted for elective EEG monitoring who had a history of being a sex offender. He had molested his younger sister, I believe. Perhaps this is different because it was a peds hospital, but it was most definitely documented in his notes, passed along in report and he had security planted at his doorway.

We've had inmates on our unit before. Never once has why they were incarcerated been in report. Why they are in the hospital is, and how many armed guards, but never their crime.

Specializes in PICU.

I do not think that the information gained from googling the patient is needed in report. You should check your hospital's policy on admitting patients with an ankle bracelet. If no policy exists, talk with your manager and hospital security. The Nurse that googled the patient may not have googled all the information, plus, it may not be completely accurate. You could also be faced with spreading inappropriate rumors about your patient. Before including it in hand-off report make 100% certain the information is correct, not just because someone googled something

I've heard enough stories of health care employees being harmed by inmates and of police officers not being as vigilant as needed to maintain the safety of the hospital. I've read some of the comments here, and whether it's ethical or not to google why a patient has a tracker, I am certainly not judging any nurse who wants to look that up. I'm not sure how appropriate it is to put that in the patient's record, but I wouldn't judge anyone for looking it up or verbally passing it along to the manager or oncoming nurse. Again, I'm not saying that I think that this was the right thing to do. I'm just saying that I get it. Hope everyone stays safe!

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