Is this legal?

Published

I had to precept a nurse tonight. Parents want to replace a nurse that is "bat" crazy. This nurse I just sent home because she fell asleep. That was my breaking point. She told me that she would take the client(s) home with her after parents go to work. She told me she has a sister who lives with her whose a LVN and looks after the client if the hired nurse needs to run an errand. Is that legal to take a client (pediatric) to your personal home? I've heard of a lot of nurses doing this. I know it's illegal for another nurse whose not hired with the company to look after them. But taking a kid home with you? And she admitted that she sleeps with the children at night. She gets in their bed with them. Seriously???

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

:eek:

Wrong on so many levels. :no:

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

You've heard of a lot of nurses doing this? Who are these nurses??

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Grounds for termination and a report to the BoN for patient abandonment/neglect in both agencies I work for.

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You've heard of a lot of nurses doing this? Who are these nurses??

These nurses work PDN and I've had three nurses say they do this. One parent told me that at Christmas, the nurse took her child to a family party. The nurse told the mother that it's okay for nurses to do this. I told the mom NO. Then I heard it tonight from the new orientating nurse, which I sent home. I was just wondering if I had missed something.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

They missed the class in ethics and professional boundaries.

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Sounds as if the nurse you sent home is bat crazier than the nurse the parents want to get rid of for being bat crazy. And the other nurses who haul their patients around and get other non-employee "nurses" to watch after their patients are also bat crazy. Wonder you don't go bat crazy from having to deal with all this bat craziness!

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I don't even know what to say......except that this sort of situation is only going to end badly :no:

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If the parents wanted the child cared for in the nurse's home, chances are they would drop her off there. What the nurse is doing is called kidnapping. She also abandons care when she leaves the child in someone else's care not employed by the agency. That's also considered child neglect. If she had an accident during transport, I doubt anyone would cover this situation.

I often wonder how nurses justify that this is okay? One phone call to the board of nursing and the nurse might rethink her actions.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
They missed the class in ethics and professional boundaries.

Exactly.

I've heard stories of this occurring and my HH agency that I worked with reported them to the BON; nurses have lost their licenses for this.

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Sometimes I feel like banging my head against the wall. If it's not "bat" crazy parents, it's "bat" crazy nurses. LOL. Thank you to everyone who responded. I just needed some clarification on this matter. I am going to tell the office folks what she shared with me. I would be pissed as a parent if this happened to me.

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Be certain to inform the agency in writing (and keep a copy) because agencies love to sweep things under the rug and the best way to do that is to deny that they were ever made aware of anything.

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