This was really cute. We have a wonderful young nurse cross training in our ER, she was really helpful yesterday. So she approaches one of us, asking where the charge nurse is. My colleague said ''what do you need, maybe I can help?''
So she says "I have an ethical problem", and proceeds to tell us that she is discharging a patient who is homeless, and doesn't feel comfortable with that, and wanted to find him resources, etc.
Out of the mouths of babes. We told her that we get homeless patients all the time, that we can't solve all their problems for them. If they come to the ER homeless, they leave homeless, that we tell them to go to The Mission for guidance.
She was rather taken aback, I saw shock on her idealistic, fresh young face. I think she was thinking maybe ER is not for her after all.
And it's not just losing the ability to drink/drug ... Shelters can be dangerous places, especially for women and any children they may have. Google "Rosie's Place, Boston".
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
California passed a law a few years ago to prevent "Dumping" patient's to the street. A hosptal that I worked for was fined $50,000.00 and a homeless man received a huge multi million dollar settlement when video surface of a patient in a hospital gown was literally pushed barefoot from a van ionto a Skid Row sidewalk.
All patients in California must be offered placement assistence if they want it. The fact is many homeless people (especially those with psych issues) don't want to live within walls.
In the psych hospital where a worked discharging ptients had to sign that they did not want placement assistence to legally protect the hospital.
My facility is pretty good at searching high and low for a place to send people that need rehab or snfs or just monitoring for a few days.
My pet peeve is when a pt is unfunded, doesn't need rehab, has family at the bedside 24/7 but suddenly when it's time to go home no one is available to help the patient out.
heron, ASN, RN
4,630 Posts
And it's not just losing the ability to drink/drug ... Shelters can be dangerous places, especially for women and any children they may have. Google "Rosie's Place, Boston".