Patient personal items

[litbitblack, ASN, RN]

I work in a Certified Alz. facility and need to find some information on a resident having possession of a hair dryer in his room. IT is of course sunday so no one is here for me to ask but I know we keep curling irons, hair spray, anything that says Keep out of reach of children on it in the locked side of their closet in thier room. I have looked through the rules on the texas website and cant find anything specific to that. Suggestions?

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

If the resident can plug the hair dryer in and use it, there is the possibility it could cause a burn. I don't let my residents have hair dryers in their rooms. Really no need for it.

[amoLucia]

Also electrical equip usually requires that it have some kind of tag on it that identifies it as having been inspected by the maint dept for its safety.

[litbitblack, ASN, RN]

Thanks for the replies. Our patient population of course feel nothing is wrong with them so in addition to "Not needing a bath because I already took one" we also get "Im an adult I can dry my own hair and have my possessions I have that right." I ended up telling him it was for the safety of others

[amoLucia]

Does your facility have some kind of handout rules, like do's and don't's , given upon admission?

I live in a condominium community and we have a set of by-laws rules, like ASSIGNED PARKING, pet rules, trash rules, no outdoor clotheslines, no more than 4 hanging planters on our patios, only black porch lights (no brass or bronze ) a 3-yard space along the house perimeter to plant flowers, etc, etc, etc.

All homeowners get a copy upon move-in (and with changes), and the rules ARE enforced. Maybe your residents get some kind of info with their admission agreement contract? If not, maybe now is the time for your facility to do so. You might check with your local Dept of Health or Fire Inspector for any existing statutes or codes to give you some authority. Does your facility have a corporate legal dept to assist?

The next thing your residents will be dragging in will be are those portable heaters units (so they can be real toasty!)

I have 3 attached neighbor units. To my knowledge, they don't smoke, nor are they messy hoarder/cockroach problems. This IS NOT an AL type or senior community, yet these are real concerns. How much more so for your type of living arrangements!!

My suggestion is to get some kind of resident policy with these type of rules & regulations and monitor them assertively.