Inventory and storage of patient's personal effects

[psych nurse]

We operate a busy psychiatric emergency room that treats numerous homeless folks who bring all of their possessions to the hospital with them. How do other hospitals inventory and store large quantities of personal effects? Dispose of or manage heavily soiled clothing and food? Appreciate your input.

[childpsychnurse]

We have an area with large storage bins to store such items. In the chart we have a form that lists their items. We lable the bin w/ rm # or name (HIPPA in mind). At D/C, the pt signs the inventory sheet prior to leaving so they cannot come back and make claims...but no matter how hard we atte,pt to list fully, we still have a few claims here or there.

[here_kitty]

We have 3 units at the hospital I work at, 2 of them have lockers in which pt's belongings are stored, the third has a drawer for each patient (pretty small one, too) and then any 'overflow' gets put in a bag and labeled with the patients name and locked in a closet. One time, we had a gal who had been picked up at a grocery store by the police and brought directly to us, and she had bags and bags of items she had just purchased. Her non-perishables were stored in several lockers, I'm not sure what they did with her perishable items.

We also have a washer/dryer on each unit, so we wash pt's clothes that they come in with. Sometimes, they really need it

[psych nurse]

Thanks for responding.