So I was out with my girlfriend and I get a call from my sister explaining to me that someone had called my house asking for me. She said that the person said he was a patient of mine and wanted to talk to me about how he was doing etc. They told my sister and I quote "I found you number on the internet, you know you can find alot of stuff on the internet" Ahem...***** Well i nearly drove off the road, started yelling and screaming using some of the most colorful words i could conjure up at the moment. Not only is that extremely weird, but in my book, this classifies itself as stalking. I guess I also need to say that this person went to high school with me, and by with i mean I never was friends with this kid, never talked a single word to him at all, holy crap...i didn't even think the kid spoke! So 2 days ago I'm watching TV with my dad and the phone rings, we have caller ID that pops up on the TV when its on and I freaked out and I said DO NOT PICK THAT *#$@^#@ PHONE UP!!, of course its th Sis person calling again. I really didn't think the person would call back but he did and now I'm legit like freaked out about it. The kid not only has a laundry list of medical problems for which i don't give a hoot to talk to him about, but he also has mental problems, WHICH i might add he felt the need to talk to my sister about for 20 minutes the first time he called. So today when everyone in my family was around I said listen, if this number pops up, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES pick it up or I'll shove the phone so far up all of your ***** i'll make it come out your mouth. Of course my mother the pacifist is like well why dont you talk to him he probably does not have any friends. I said are you out of your mind ?!?! The phone call itself crosses so many boundaries in medicine/nursing that I cant even begin to tell you, not to mention the fact that it stalking! And of course my mother still wants me to be nice and I'm yelling by this point about how my philosophy is "Once a patient, ALWAYS a patient" and finally my father steps in agrees with me. Now here's where Im looking for advice...Im not sure if i should tell the hospital I work at or not..it doesn't seem like a hospital issue but I honestly don't have enough experience to know if thats the right thing to do, something tells me I should but like i said I'm not sure? So I'm willing to take any advice you might have...And on a funny note..i call optimum to ask if there is a way to block nuisance callers and she tells me, oh that feature was supposed to be out at the beginning of may but it's due to release in the first week of june...lol
That's exactly why I cover up my last name on my badge. I had one patient say to me, "I looked up your first name on facebook and I couldn't find you!" That was a relief.
We were told by our CNO that there are laws that exist that state a patient has the right to know who is taking care of them. Therefore, you can not cover up your last name on your badge. We had people doing this at our facility but now it is against dress code.
All good advise. Make sure that you keep copies of everything. Keep the tapes, and show that the person is calling you.
Then when they keep calling you have the proof that they called you to initiate the contact.
'
In many states you can get into trouble for this;you must express explicitly that you are recording their voice otherwise you would be breaking the law.
This is off-topic but you actually used those words with your dad and family?!
baha yes i did, I love how people automatically assume I'm a female and I'm not..ahhh the stereotypes of the nursing profression...wait i bet you think i might be possibly gay or not smart enough to get into medical school to? bahahah lol
Just out of curiosity, why have you not just answered the phone and clearly explained your professional boundries and tell this guy that all further health related questions need to be directed to his doctor & to please not call your number again?
Because I don't even wanna pick up the phone because if i do chances are I'll probably say you need to stop calling my house, but I'm
most certainly going to throw in a couple colorful words too because I think it's creepy and just weird. If i was to say what I really think about this kid and what he's doing I'm 1. going to make him cry and I fear that my pager (fire dept) is going to go off for a house fire at my house and they;re gonna find this kid standing outside my house with a can a gas and a book of matches. You would have thought he would get the point after no one has picked the phone up in a couple days...but nope..
Milk of Amnesia (love that name)............ I would absolutely tell the hospital, but keep in mind the HIPPA laws. You can say his conversation with your sister was inappropriate and your family is concerned,don't tell administration you shared his medical history with mom and dad.
Now I am waiting for your post to be edited - watch your language missy! Save the F-bombs for work, were they belong.:w00t:
I didn't share any medical information with my family. This person had a whole 20 min convo with my sister about it, so I never said anything to anyone about it. And I'm a dude btw lol When i started the convo with my parents i warned them im gonna say the f word alot so they braced for it.
It's in your name, Da_Milk_of_Amnesia. Also I envision that you have toned your usual way of speaking way down in order to post on Allnurses.
Your post if unedited would go something like this...
"I didn't ****** share any ****** medical information with my ****** family. This person had a whole ****** 20 min convo with my sister about it, so I never said ****** anything to anyone about it. And I'm a ****** dude btw lol When i started the ****** convo with my parents i warned them im gonna ****** say the f word alot so they braced for it."
i worked doing home care and forgot to block my number one morning when scheduling my stops... well of course my phone rings at 9:30 on a saturday night calling to say that patient's dressing is oozing a lot of fluid and could i stop by and check it and change it. I politely told the caller that i was no longer on duty and if they were concened they should call ems and go to the hospital. I also told them not to call my home number again and that any urgent calls should be made to the agency. She was a little indignant when i told her that but i just calmly repeated the message and assured her i'd call the agency and report the issue.
Bite the bullet and take the call and set them straight - if they persist then take action.
lvICU
118 Posts
We were told by our CNO that there are laws that exist that state a patient has the right to know who is taking care of them. Therefore, you can not cover up your last name on your badge. We had people doing this at our facility but now it is against dress code.