Just when you think you've seen it all

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

My facility is full of people with major psychiatric diagnoses. They can't cope with life in the real world and many either have guardians or invoked health care proxies. The other day one of them decided he was going to leave. Naturally we couldn't let him. We called his health care proxy who said no...keep him there. The resident is trying to say that the person who is his health care proxy wasn't his choice. It's the alternate who, he says, was picked by a health care proxy he 'fired'. We tried to tell him that since the proxy has been invoked, there is nothing we can do. It's too late for him to change his pick. So, and here's the best part--he called his friend (who used to be a resident but signed out AMA) and his friend started looking on line. They've downloaded a writ of habeas corpus and are taking us to court saying we are holding the man illegally.

The poor guy can barely operate in a facility. There is NO way he'd make it in the real world...so he marches himself in my office on Friday and says "You better look good on Monday because I'm taking you to court". I said "I always look good and why are you taking me to court?" He says it's nothing personal....yikes. I can hardly wait to get to work tomorrow to see what happens. What ever happened to those sweet little old ladies who used to live in nursing facilities?

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Heh. No geri-psych facilities my ass. We ALL work in geri-psych facilities.

My sweet little old ladies bite.

[Schmoo1022]

75 percent of my facility are psych...young psyche...I am talking 40's and 50's. It is tough out there

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

75 percent of my facility are psych...young psyche...I am talking 40's and 50's. It is tough out there

Thank you, deinstitutionalization.

[noc4senuf]

I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure your paper work is in order. Just sad that the gov't will end up wasting time on it.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

3/4 of my facilities residents have psych dx's of one form or another. And I'm not talking 'dementia" etc! All ages, male and female, all walks of life. We are a traditional LTC/SNF, and not equipped, trained or staffed for our number of psych patients. But once they get "snuck" in, they are very very hard to get out.

Cape-you're resident is a resident for a reason and has a health care proxy for a reason. i'm assuming he's not mentally competent to make choices regarding himself or his health care so claiming YOU are holding him hostage isn't going to float in a court, if it even gets that far.