Patients who steal from the ER

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The police were called for a bag of linens? You do realize that they are, literally, bought for pennies each? And, oh yeah, the money doesnt even come out of your pocket????? Dont get me wrong, I dont go around advocating theft, but unless they are stealing drugs, or something large and valuable,(that is right in front of me, and I am responsible for it) I could not care less. I'm sure there isn't any hospital out there going to even say thank you for catching people "steal" these things. And besides, nursing is enough to deal with , let alone being a "store detective'. I wish I had the time.

I work at a veterans hospital. we get a budget for linen. A lot of linen gets stolen. If we are over budget, the hospital does not buy more linen, we have to wait for the next fiscal year. I would call the cops for someone stealing linen. YOU try covering a patient up in reusable/washable chucks because there are NO blankets, making a 6 foot man wear pink pj's becuase there are no male pj's, and using 20 washcloths to dry a patient off after a shower because there are NO towels. I've had to do it all, and I've had to tell family to bring in blankets to cover up grandpa with because we are all out of blankets, or yes, I would change his bed linens, but I have no sheets. People complain about rising healthcare costs, but dont' do anything to stop the theft of hospital property which takes money to replace.

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Specializes in ED, MED-SERG, CCU, ICU, IPR.

In the real world, this is not always possible.

QUOTE=grannynurse FNP student]Perhaps it is the facilities I've been a patient in but it is extremely difficult for a patient or family to steal any equipment or supplies. They are kept secure behind locked doors. Even snacks, drinks and other food stuffs are behind locked doors. At the most one can steal only what one has access to. If facilities want to cut down on stealing, they need to lock their valuables up. Staff needs to lock their valuables up. And patients need to send their valuables home.

Grannynurse :balloons:

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In the real world, this is not always possible.

Gee, I knew that Charlotte County was in the sticks. I never realized it wasn't part of the real world. And the same goes for Albany County, New York.

Grannynurse

QUOTE=grannynurse FNP student]Perhaps it is the facilities I've been a patient in but it is extremely difficult for a patient or family to steal any equipment or supplies. They are kept secure behind locked doors. Even snacks, drinks and other food stuffs are behind locked doors. At the most one can steal only what one has access to. If facilities want to cut down on stealing, they need to lock their valuables up. Staff needs to lock their valuables up. And patients need to send their valuables home.

Grannynurse :balloons:

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Specializes in Psych.

Quote: And I can't count how many patients have asked to keep their gowns ("they are so good to lie around the house and watch TV in")

Geeeeeezzzz.....that's what I want, something open and flapping when the neighbors come by.

People never fail to amaze me. Sometimes in a good way, other times like this.

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It says it on the walls when you walk into the hospitals in Massachusetts.

And WHERE does it say that "everyone is entitled to health care regardless of their ability to pay"?
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I think if you went into any emergency room in the state of Texas, you see this little sign on the wall stating just that. At least in the ER's around this part of Texas. If you can't pay, the ER has the obligation of stabalizing you before they can send you to a county hospital.

Have Fun And be safe

Jerry

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Specializes in ED, MED-SERG, CCU, ICU, IPR.

Sorry if you misunderstood what I meant.

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We now have to lock up the speculum lights, two have disappeared in the past month. ($180.00 each) People just get light fingered and want to take home toys. Keep an eye on eBay they usually end up there.

Years ago someone came in the middle of the night and wheeled out a ventilator. Wheelchairs disappear each week.

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At our hsp it wasn't just the pts. When I worked in the OR we kept having laparscopic instruments disappear. They were not at the Women's OR Center or the outpatient surgery center. One of the surgeons "borrowed" sets to leave at the hsp across town because he like ours better.

Go Figure.

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Specializes in Peds - playing with the kids.

Try working peds... :uhoh3: .

Bags full of diapers and formula is a given...but the video tapes, books, games are always going out the door :angryfire . We have the Nintendo chained to a cart like it is Fort Knox. I can't understand why people would want something that has passed through the hands of 1000 sick kids :barf01: .

Things are cleaned between uses of course..but still.

If it isn't chained down...it is out of there.

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Its like stealing from sick hospitalized children! How selfish can someone be???? :angryfire

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We now have to lock up the speculum lights, two have disappeared in the past month. ($180.00 each) People just get light fingered and want to take home toys. Keep an eye on eBay they usually end up there.

Oh no kidding... there was a childbirth educator who was selling an epidural needle on eBay. She said it could be used for educational purposes.:uhoh3: You know, in childbirth classes, I guess one could use it to show how the epidural is delivered.

And I was wondering how this childbirth educator got that... I'm sure it was pilfered somehow...

Next time you find something like this on eBay, go to the "ask user a question" area and ask how this was obtained. See what kind of answer you get. I'm going to do this next time I see this on eBay.

Editing: Since I've made this post I went over to eBay to see what I could find by doing a search for "medical supplies". VEERRRY interesting. An ped endotrach tube, TONS of IV supplies... some of these might be legit, but some like the endotrach tube were coming from a user with a low selling number, and the IV supplies looked like someone went into a bin at work, took out a handful and brought them home to sell on eBay.

I can't imagine a hospital buying from an unknown vendor.

I do see that some of these items carry a disclaimer that they are not to be sold to unlicensed users. I wonder exactly who is patrolling that?

BTW, whoever said that they were missing a fetoscope doppler, umm.. you might wanna check eBay. It's there.

(yes, I know, the one posted here was found, but if it wasn't, it ends up on eBay. This thread has been truly an educational experience)

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