Money Hungry Patients

[OliveVinesRN]

Hello, all, here I am again. I have yet another war story from a day in the life in the Battle of Nursing. This time, I actually have empathy for the physician ( I know, I can't believe I said that either)

For the last couple of days, I have had this awful patient. This man came to the ED in my hospital about 3 weeks ago due to a problem. He ended up being admitted and scheduled to have minor surgery. In the meanwhile, the doctors discovered multiple other things wrong with this man. And that's to be expected when you have never had insurance and never seen a doctor before. There is bound to be something that will be discovered the first time one is evaluated by a physician. Anyway, about 5 surgeries later, this man is on a war path.

First of all, and I put this nicely, this man has some major mental issues. This man is in his late 50s and his mother still spoon feeds him. He is very whiny and overly dramatic. And his family member overreact to every "ooh" and "aah" this man belts out. And he is blaming the doctors for all of his problems. The main reason for this is because he had to have a colectomy done due to major problems with his colon. Well, against doctors orders, the man gets up, unassisted, on the side of the bed and his staples busted. Gut busted open and he eviscerated all over the place.

Well, he ended up in ICU and is now back on the floor. And now he blames the physicians, every single one involved in his care, for all of his problems. And I have heard this man threaten to sue the doctors for 12 hours straight. And to make matters worse, his family member, who happens to be a nurse in this facility, is instigating it all. She is actually encouraging this man to sue, knowing darn well that his problems all stem from his stubborness and him insisting on doing what he wants to do.

Well, after listening to how bad the doctors were and how he was out to get them to make him "remember" what they had done to him, I actually am disgusted with this man. He acts as if the doctors did this to him and because they found all this stuff wrong with him, they did it to him. He refuses to acknowledge that until now, he has never seen a doctor and he had problems that have just been discovered. He even had the nerve to ask me my opinion. Of course, I refused to comment and left it at that.

My question to you all is this: Should I inform my supervisors of this man's intentions to sue the doctors and the involvement of the relative-employee's encouragement to do so? Should I inform the doctors of this man's intentions? I know I've charted all the things the family has said and done (I catch them messing with the IV lines), and the patient told me himself that when he got up unassisted against doctor's orders, his incision ruptured afterwards. What is my role in all of this since he has told me so much about it all?

And lastly, I will say, I am totally disgusted at this man and his family. I can't believe that after all these doctors did to try to help this man get better, they would blame them. It infuriates me because although doctors are jerks at times, and they don't respect us at times, they still mostly are in the healthcare profession due to some degree of altruism, no matter how small a degree it may be. And it is a shame that this day in time, some patients (especially backwoods, dumb, inbred people like this patient and his family) are out to make a quick buck off of the good intentions of healthcare professionals. This is a private hospital at which I work and they doctors could have just referred this man to the VA since he is a veteran without insurance (and I don't condone that either, but you know they do that sometimes) Yet, this doctor, who is an excellent surgeon, took on this case without a second thought about ever being reimbursed or anything. This patient even said that he was glad he was in the hospital because he could get free medicine which he couldn't get at home. He and his family are out to make a quick buck and they should be ashamed.

Whew!!!! That was my soapbox, now I'm done. But what do you all think I should do? Thanks in advance.

[Nurse Ratched, RN]

If I had a dime for every time a patient like him threatened to sue, I'd be rich indeed.

Especially on psych .

Document, document, document, as others have said. Narrative note until your fingers bleed - what you saw, what he said, what he did, not your interpretation of same.

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

Some people feel entitled to everything for doing nothing. What can I say.....

[OliveVinesRN]

When I say mental issues, I am not talking about your run of the mill psycho. No, this man has some sense, but he is pampered by his mother and sister and they take everything he says to heart. Therefore, he whines and scowls like a 6 year old at times. It's really annoying. And I know that he knows it's not right to blame the doctor for what he did.

[OliveVinesRN]

Thank you very much for understanding what I meant by "mental issues". Yes, this man knows better, he just defiant as heck and chooses to do contrary things.

Oh, yes, his mother AND sister spoon-feeds him. And he refuses to do anything I tell him. I raise his head up to help him get water, his sister or mother lets it back down right before my eyes. When he wants water, instead of him asking for it, he'll say, "Momma, water...water!!!!!" And there she goes, all while going "oooh and oooh, what's wrong?" I'll tell her what's wrong, her son is a momma's boy that is out of control. Sheesh!!! LOL!

But seriously, I am charting out of this world on this man. I will not shirk my duties as a nurse, but you better believe he won't be winning this lawsuit due to lack of documentation.

[OliveVinesRN]

Thank you. I am and will continue to do that. I'll be so glad when they discharge him to rehab. But, I definitely am charting everything because I know that's the key. They will not getting rich off our good intentions. Shame on them all for behaving this way. And that niece that is a nurse at the facility ought to be ashamed of herself. But from what another nurse told me, she cheated her way through nursing school anyway. If she knew what was good for her, she would save her uncle the time and money by telling him he doesn't have a case.

[OliveVinesRN]

Oh, I understand that she is probably just stressed out with her uncle being ill and everything. And I wouldn't want her to lose her job or anything. But, she needs to let the nurses that are caring for him do just that. She is not her uncle's nurse. She is not with him for 12 hours. Other nurses and myself are there dealing with this man. She needs to let us get this man well so he can be discharged. But, I am definitely charting like a race-horse.

[OliveVinesRN]

Right. But, this man, although he is ignorant, is not crazy. I should have been more specific. He's not a traditional mentallly ill patient. He's just ignorant and uneducated. He is going to do what he wants regardless of what the nurses and doctors tell him.

[OliveVinesRN]

He doesn't have textbook mental issues. But his he and his family are very ignorant and refuse to listen to medical orders or foster nursing interventions. I was kind of harsh to call him all those names, but he has made me very mad. He has not problem proclaiming his intention of "revenge". I cannot agree with that when he refused to follow doctors orders and got himself into this predicament.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

When a patient threatens to sue the docs or the hospital, I do an incident report just so the higher ups are aware of the potential.

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

I had a cousin who acted the same way. He even threw himself off a scaffolding to collect insurance from employer. He died at age 45 due to diabetic complications (which he blamed on the incompetency of every health provider who came within 10 ft.). He never even checked his blood sugar (said it was the doctor's job!).

[nurse4theplanet, RN]

He doesn't have textbook mental issues. But his he and his family are very ignorant and refuse to listen to medical orders or foster nursing interventions. I was kind of harsh to call him all those names, but he has made me very mad. He has not problem proclaiming his intention of "revenge". I cannot agree with that when he refused to follow doctors orders and got himself into this predicament.

as long as you CYA with documentation you will be just fine. Sounds like you are doing that.

Remember....a threat to sue is just a threat. If they have no leg to stand on in court, nothing will come of it. And believe me, I am sure your facility can hire much better attourneys than this patient and his family...so if he does not have a legit claim, they will eat him alive in court.

[Bipley]

as long as you CYA with documentation you will be just fine. Sounds like you are doing that.

Remember....a threat to sue is just a threat. If they have no leg to stand on in court, nothing will come of it. And believe me, I am sure your facility can hire much better attourneys than this patient and his family...so if he does not have a legit claim, they will eat him alive in court.

Not necessarily. People sue for the most stupid things and win. Micky D's and hot coffee ring any bells? What about the guy who was breaking into a building by climbing up on the roof so he could shimmy down a vent just to have the roof cave in. He sued the owner of the building for an unsafe roof.

NEVER EVER allow yourself to believe that just because someone is wrong and looking for free money that they won't still win in court. Happens all the time.