Pt raped at my hospital

Nurses General Nursing

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An elderly lady was raped in her hospital bed over the weekend. It was during normal visiting hours and was done by a repeat criminal. The police think he picked her at random. His nurse went to check on her pt and caught him in the act. The nursing staff then detained him called security and the cops. This took place in the bible belt in a usually safe area. I live near where it happened and I don't even lock my doors at home at night or when I'm away.

What could the hospital do to prevent this from happening again? Is there any visitor screening done at your hospital?

I know the story as I grew up in that area. I am currently attending nursing school in Philadelphia and will say that the majority of the facilities I have clinicals in the security is pretty tight, yet the population and people are quite different here than the midwest. In fact there was a patient in Philly a couple months ago that was robbed as he died of a heart attack in the ED waiting room. I think the responsibility also falls on everyone on the floor to be aware of who is on the floor and especially anyone who seems somewhat suspicious.

Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

Wow, that is scary! Ironically I just had a patient tell me we have great security; said she went out for a smoke for just a minute and the security guard came by to remove the rock she stuck in the door so she could get back in. We have an external door that locks after 8pm and an additional key lock door to get into the unit. Granted we are an OB unit, it would probably be a good idea for all units to be locked. Our security guard walks around all night and I see him several times but he never goes into a patient room on his rounds.

Specializes in PICU.

Wow! That is horrible! So sad but grateful they caught him and hopefully prevented any further trauma and injury.

I work in pediatrics so my situation is different. All our units are locked down. There are phones and video cameras outside each entrance to each floor unit (one unit per floor on a 7 story children's hospital). In order to enter you have to have the pt's account number found on the pt's identifying sticker. We provid the parents/caregivers an armband with sticker on it. They can give out account number to family they know will be visiting but we remind them it is the golden key and that they are giving us permission to allow anyone with that number to enter the unit and to get info about the pt. We ask for the account number if anyone calls in to check on pt as well. There are also bands with security sensors that we put on pts under the age of 1. If a child is not cleared to leave the unit for any reason the alarms will sound when they pass a certain point on the unit (right before the doors). All the families are educated on these expectations upon admit and they know that our goal is to keep our kids safe. We also make sure there are no custody issues and/or if the pt is in CPS or foster care we get a list of those who are allowed to visit or receive information about the pt (example would be do the parents have rights and if they do are there any restrictions). In addition to all this we encourage parents rights to ask who anyone is and they are able to accompany their child anywhere they may go (MRI, CT, etc). And all pediatric workers have a different colored badge than non-peds workers (we are a ped's hospital but we connect to the main/other hospital by way of the cafeteria-we just opened the peds tower 6 mos ago). I am in PICU so PICU kids always have a nurse and usually a RT with them when they are transported but we also encourage family to know where their child is going, with whom, why and when they will be back (just in case they aren't accompanying child). The precautions are second nature and keep the flow of the unit under control. And parents feel good knowing their kids are safe.

As for us, they put 'panic' buttons at the front desk area just under the desk. They are silent but alert security immediately. There was a learning curve as the button to open the unit doors is similar and also up at the front desk area.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

how awful!

no visitor screening at my hospital -- even when visitors have threatened staff and are carrying guns.

Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.

:igtsyt: Uhhhh, what does being in the Bible Belt have to do with it? Seems even religious leaders sometimes have trouble sticking to the straight and narrow. Believe it or not, some of us heathen Northeasterners actually have morals! :D

An elderly lady was raped at a LTC facility that I worked at. We had no security. The night shift CNAs went from room to room when they came on shift and checked that the sliding glass doors were shut and locked after that. Cars were routinely vandalized in the parking lot at night. It was not a safe area to begin with.

No matter where you live, you are still at risk for random weirdos. I would really recommend reevaluating not locking your house at night. You just never know who is lurking. Even your up and up neighbor can be a complete whack job. Better safe than sorry!!!! I live in a very safe neighborhood but I still lock my doors. If a random person is coming through the neighborhood, they are more likely to target an unlocked house than a locked one! And they may try different houses looking for the unlocked ones thinking that people in the neighborhood generally feel safe.

I'm still a student so I've seen many different levels of security in the hospitals. The best one is the hospital I am at right now. If you don't have an ID, out the door you go. It is not uncommon for an aide to stop a doctor to ask where their ID is. They also have a panic button and a security guard makes rounds on the unit. I think the staff themselves really create a culture of safety.

OB unit I rotated on had the unit locked down and alarms on all the babies. Not a bad idea. Once again, safe area but you never know what kind of whacko is lurking around.

Specializes in Emergency, CCU, SNF.

I worked at a hospital where one of the staff was put in prison for the rape of an elderly woman (he was an STNA). Unfortunately, even with safeguards in place, nasty, horrible people can do terrible things.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
no matter where you live, you are still at risk for random weirdos. i would really recommend reevaluating not locking your house at night. you just never know who is lurking. even your up and up neighbor can be a complete whack job. better safe than sorry!!!! i live in a very safe neighborhood but i still lock my doors. if a random person is coming through the neighborhood, they are more likely to target an unlocked house than a locked one! and they may try different houses looking for the unlocked ones thinking that people in the neighborhood generally feel safe.

i always believed my neighborhood to be one of the safest around. right up until the day someone broke in and took everything of value in the house -- except the dog, whom they injured.

generally, the only way a place gets security measures (if not already required by law) is after it gets bad press and sued ($$$). health care is a business and most businesses only spend money on what they have to.

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
i always believed my neighborhood to be one of the safest around. right up until the day someone broke in and took everything of value in the house -- except the dog, whom they injured.

. . .yep. .. i live in a "controlled access" building. it's buttoned up pretty tight, but my car was broken into last week. they took some camping equipment and my cute new kitchen cutting board, but conspicuously left the very detailed book about the plague in england sitting on the passenger seat, but moved from it's original location in the car. the moment of amusement i had over that made me feel a little better. .;)

horrible what happened to the lady. . . at least the guy was caught. the person(s) who killed the hh nurse in detroit still on the loose. even though nothing is a 100%, it seems like having people stopped in the lobby to sign in and get a visitor sticker is an inexpensive thing, and would at least raise the antenna about someone seeming "off" or evasive.

ps. ruby, glad they didn't do worse to your dog, hope she/he recovered well.

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