Have You Ever Refused To Accept Report on a Patient?

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What are the laws in your area of refusing to accept a patient into your care?

I refused to accept a patient who had assaulted me sexually earlier in the year. I'm trying to find the Florida Nuse Practice Act to see if that was OK.

If this person molested you as a child, why is he not in jail?

Even jailed molesters eventually get out of prison.

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Specializes in PACU, ED.

i think you would be fine in arizona. here's part of the state board's opinion on abandonment. the highlights are mine.

it is the position of the arizona board of nursing that for patient abandonment to occur, the nurse must:

a. have first accepted the patient assignment, thus establishing a nurse-patient relationship; accepting a

patient assignment varies from setting to setting and requires a clear understanding of workload and

agreement to provide care, and then

b. disengaged the nurse-patient relationship without giving reasonable notice and report to the qualified

person (supervisor, nurse, etc.) so that others can make arrangements for continuation of nursing care.

examples of patient abandonment include, but are not limited to:

leaving without giving the supervisor or qualified person adequate notice

leaving without giving report to a qualified person

accepting an assignment of patient care and then leaving the nursing unit or patient care setting without

notifying the qualified person

situations not considered to be patient abandonment, but are examples of employer-employee or contract

issues of which the board has no jurisdiction (salary, work conditions, hiring and termination policies):

no call/no show for work

refusal to work mandatory overtime

refusal to accept an assignment or a nurse-patient relationship

refusal to work additional hours or shifts

ending the employer-employee relationship without providing the employer with a period of time to

obtain replacement staff for that specific position

refusal to work in an unfamiliar, specialized, or "high tech" area when there has been no orientation, no

educational preparation or employment experience

resigning from a position and not fulfilling the remaining posted work schedule

refusal to float to an unfamiliar unit to accept a full patient assignment

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Specializes in LDRP.
Question, HappyNurse. If this person molested you as a child, why is he not in jail?

i was quite young-now i'm not, he was in jail for several years. i have no idea when he got out.

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i was quite young-now i'm not, he was in jail for several years. i have no idea when he got out.

Happy, I am VERY sorry that happened to you. And I'm sorry for the question the poster asked you, as it seemed insensitive and ignorant. If people only realized exactly what kind of monsters lurk among us!

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Happy, I am VERY sorry that happened to you. And I'm sorry for the question the poster asked you, as it seemed insensitive and ignorant. If people only realized exactly what kind of monsters lurk among us!

It is very scary. If you ever check the sex offender registry and see how many sex offenders live near you, your kids school, ect. it will make you want to stay home with a gun. The XXXXX that raped my daughter gets out in a few months. You can be darn sure I would never accept him as a patient. There is no way I could provide him with proper care. I'd have enough trouble if he was on the same floor.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
It is very scary. If you ever check the sex offender registry and see how many sex offenders live near you, your kids school, ect. it will make you want to stay home with a gun. The XXXXX that raped my daughter gets out in a few months. You can be darn sure I would never accept him as a patient. There is no way I could provide him with proper care. I'd have enough trouble if he was on the same floor.

And see, I think he would have troubles from me whether I had an established nurse-pt relationship with him or not.

I think I'd just have to shoot the moon and go for 'jury nullification' on MY trial. . .

~faith,

Timothy.

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WHY did she need special one on one monitoring for a pca pump? I don't understand.

The anesthesiologist was concerned the narcotic he had given her during labot would become effective so refused to order the PCA unless she was monitored. This lady had many health problems complicating her pregnancy.

It was the night supervisor idea to send me, the CCU charge nurse.

Turns out there was an L&D nurse on call!

I just knew I was not competent to assume responsibility for the care of her and the baby.

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Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.

I don't understand why this patient was even allowed back into your hospital, let alone back on your unit. I'm so sorry you didn't receive the support from your employer on this issue. I feel that if you were afraid of this patient, you should definitely have the right not to take him. Not to mention the ethical downfall if you had taken him...sheesh.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Bottom line: even if it is o.k. with the BON, and it probably is, the manager can still fire you. You're in Florida, they can fire us for any reason they choose to, or for no reason at all.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Bottom line: even if it is o.k. with the BON, and it probably is, the manager can still fire you. You're in Florida, they can fire us for any reason they choose to, or for no reason at all.

But an employer that would fire you for that: good riddance.

See, they can fire you for ANY reason, but some reasons are more 'worth' it than others. You gotta take a stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

If they give you that kind of grief, hold your head up high and don't look back.

There are some companies I wouldn't CHOOSE to work for. And the moment a company would fire me for THAT, that 'firing' mentality would be completely mutual.

~faith,

Timothy.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Personally I would like to see the hospital try to fire her for that. It would be a slam dunk for any attorney. How does Meerkat Medical Center sound.

Speaking of attorney Meerkat so you dont possibly get put in that situation again I would seek a personal protective order against this person. Going so far as to exclude him from going where you work. It would force the facility to do what they should have done in the first place and that was to send him elsewhere. Besides that I am surprised that that isnt already been done by the courts.

Rj

Bottom line: even if it is o.k. with the BON, and it probably is, the manager can still fire you. You're in Florida, they can fire us for any reason they choose to, or for no reason at all.
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Specializes in Medical/Surgical/Maternal and Child.

Meerkat I deal with sexually abused kids every day at work so my question was not ignorant or insensitive. Sex offenders have no right to be among the general population and should be locked up with the keys thrown away. Unfortunately in our system of government, a criminal is innocent until proven guilty!!! :(

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