Is it a law?

I'm under the impression that it's a liability issue for the facility more then an actual law.

I agree with Cookie -- I've always known it to be "hospital policy" not necessarily law.

I've had patients walk out...they were walking the halls all day anyway.

I've also walked out myself when a patient.

It just depends on their condition...use prudent judgement.

We let them walk out, but we chart that we offered a wheelchair and they refused it. Just a CYA policy for the institution, I believe.

I all ways offer discharge patients a wheelchair, but most of the time they refuse. I think that if you are worried about a lawsuit or anything all you need to do is document "Pt discharged, refused wheelchair, walked out of hospital" and you'd be covering your ass. Personally, as a young person myself, I'd be pretty upset if a nurse forced me to use a wheelchair and I didn't physically need one.

I don't think it is a law but I worked in ambulatory surgery where anyone who received general or MAC anesthesia was discharged by wheelchair. Noone really ever made a big deal about it. Local cases could walk out.

Now I work on a cardiac unit (in the same hospital) and we offer all discharges a wheelchair but they can walk out if they liked. I just chart whether they were ambulatory or discharged via wheelchair.

i always wondered that myself. i would just document in the d/c note if they said they prefered to walk and i felt it was safe to do so.

i had cosmetic surgery under general anesthesia at a hospital, and i remember that i needed help using the bathroom, and leaving the hospital.

there was no way i was walking just yet, i was pretty out of it still. ga is some tough stuff.

I believe like others have posted it is a liability or risk management issue.

Fall prevention...The only times I have came close to falling during my ongoing recovery from my fibula fx is when I have been in the clinic/hospital setting...

Anesthesia and sedation will make you think you can do things that you cannot.

I had surgery once and the next day, had the bright idea that I could walk down the hallway, and down another one to visit a friend that worked there...only to collapse at the nurses station in another department from sheer weakness.

I think a hospital would be very foolish to allow a patient to walk out on their own when they have had a procedure done that required anesthesia or sedation...and charting would most likely not cover you...especially if they are on pain meds, b/c in the event of a fall, a good lawyer could make the "altered state of mind" argument.