legit discharge?

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Nov 21, 2015

If the patient is AO4 and not holdable, it's legit. Not ideal, and not the preferred practice by most places, but legit. You can't force a patient into follow-up care that they don't want. Just be sure you document the patient's refusal for follow-up care.

banana, MD · Nov 22, 2015

Without knowing much much more about this particular case, an answer to this question in this vacuum is impossible, but this is really two separate questions. Being awake, alert, oriented, and denying suicidality is completely irrelevant to the question of this patients ability to be discharged safely. What's more important is a thorough suicide risk assessment taking into account their chronic/acute risk factors for suicide and having a psychiatrist make a decision as to whether or not they are too dangerous to leave the hospital. The second question about the follow up is a little easier. Generally, if a patient is safe enough to leave they generally have the right to not have follow, though this is not optimal. If a patient doesn't want to follow up, they probably won't regardless of whether you have scheduled follow up for them. Medicolegally (and cynically), it is probably better for you for a patient to commit suicide before his scheduled follow up than to do the same without a discharge plan