Pt stole from a worker?/drama

[aerorunner80]

When I was working yesterday, we had a pt on our floor who had a sitter. This pt was supposed to stay in bed but was not restrained or sedated and was always getting up and walking around (they finally put a Posey on her about 4 hours later........the doc was there all day and saw everything happen :selfbonk::selfbonk:).

In my understanding, when a sitter (hospital provided) is present, that sitter is to stay in the room at all times except for breaks and lunch, then the sitter is to find someone to cover for him/her. Basically, the pt is to be supervised 24/7. Well, the pt asked the sitter to go get her some crackers so the sitter leaves the room with nobody to watch the pt and when she came back, she says that the pt stole money out of her purse! If the pt wanted some crackers, the sitter is supposed to call us so we can get them for the pt and the sitter can stay and keep watch. The sitter knew this because she did this the first time I worked with her (same pt) earlier this week. They called security up to talk to the sitter but of course security can't just randomly search a pt so basically a report was made and that was it. The room was searched later but nothing was found.

Am I wrong for thinking that she got what she deserved? I mean, she left the pt unattended along with her belongings including her purse that had the somewhat lg amt of cash in it. The sitter knew that even though the pt was not supposed to be oob, that she got out anyway and was walking around. She also knew that this pt has a hx of ETOH, drug abuse, and due to other things was not to be trusted. :smackingf

I mean yeah, it's crappy that it happened but I don't feel any pity for her. The sitter had to point out to me that she was crying. I don't know why she felt like she had to tell me but she did. All I could think was that I had work to do and didn't have time to listen to her tell me why she had to call me into the room (and take me away from work that had to be done on other pts) to point out the fact that she was crying.

I just had to get that off my chest.

[preciousbaby621]

I don't bring valuable stuff to work. Just a few dollars for lunch or a coke. Why on earth would you bring your purse with a lot of money in it and leave it in a patient's room? Sounds pretty weird to me... Did anyone actually see the patient take the money? How do we know the sitter isn't just making the whole thing up to get attention--especially with the whole crying thing.

I totally agree with you. Don't bring purses to work. Especially with large amount of money. I only carry my I.d. and check card. And my check card doesn't even have my signature on the back. I wrote "ASK FOR ID" with a permanent marker, just incase.....works for me!

[momdebo, BSN, RN]

have to agree with Tazzi here, too bad that she had to learn the hard way but when your WHOLE job is to WATCH someone, think about it, do we watch people who are ok/alert/oreinted etc? Probably not. And why did she have to point out that she was crying? Was it not visibly noticeable? Sounds like a cry for attention to me.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure that money was taken at all.

[matchstickxx]

I guess we are lucky to have purse lockers at work. We bring our own locks and clear them out at the end of our shift.

I have to wonder either about her judgement or the veracity of her story.

More importantly, she should have never left the patient's bedside without calling for relief. At my hospital, a sitter is not to provide any care for the patient including feeding or even toileting the patient. His or her only job is to ensure the patient's safety and to call for staff if the patient needs anything. This sitter should be reprimanded for leaving her patient alone even if only for a few moments. The theft was pretty minor compared to what could have happened.

[clee1]

A tech on my unit was functioning as a sitter. She allowed a pt to leave the room whereupon the pt had a seizure, collapsed, cracked his skull open, then spent 10 days in the ICU.

Do I have to say that this tech was fired?

[Myxel67]

I watched too many soap operas in my youth, so I have a suspicious nature. Sometimes when someone has a sad story, cries, etc., sympathetic coworkers will collect money to help that person. Perhaps she just didn't cry in front of the right person.

[celery]

What an unfortunate situation!!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

who among us would leave our purse in a patient room?

i work in icu, so patients are rarely up and around and never on their own, but . . .

we have no lockers. there is no place to put our purses except in our "break" room where our coworkers can (and do) steal from us or in a patient room, which is marginally safer. things have gone missing if you leave your purse in a patient room, but it's usually the patient's visitors or the custodial staff. the custodial staff are far more likely steal from our purses if we leave them in the break room because (as one explained it) they're sure they're not stealing from a patient that way. i've never had anything stolen from my purse (that i know of) but i'll never forget one 5'1" tall nurse with a black belt in tae kwan do chasing down and tackling a large visitor dressing in gang colors who attempted to steal her purse! by the time she was finished with him, he was black and blue and too embarressed to raise his eyes above ankle level! i have had visitors go through my purse looking for items of interest, but all they find is pens, lipstick and my latest paperback.

[JeanettePNP, MSN, RN, NP]

i i'll never forget one 5'1" tall nurse with a black belt in tae kwan do chasing down and tackling a large visitor dressing in gang colors who attempted to steal her purse! by the time she was finished with him, he was black and blue and too embarressed to raise his eyes above ankle level!

i love it!

[AlisonBSN]

There's a reason why people say not to leave your things lying around...because it might get stolen. Nobody's happy that it happened, but when you leave your things lying around someone that requires supervision in the first place, you can expect that they'll do something wrong when not being supervised. It was a stupid thing to do on her part, and I do things like that all the time, so I do understand how that sucks for her...but then again, why be dramatic about it and call the nurse in there to show that you're crying. I'd be crying too...to myself...about how stupid I am.

To the OP, I would have been aggravated too if I was called in there to see just how much of a girl she was being about it. Big fat waste of valuable time. Especially from a co-worker...she should know better than to leave her crap alone with the type of person who requires a sitter, and to not bother people about it afterwards...ESPECIALLY when it's been determined that nothing further can be done about it. At that point it's just pointless blubbering.

[tddowney]

Did the sitter deserve to have her money stolen?

No. No one deserves to be the victim of thieves.

That said, the sitter sure set herself up for it. Perhaps next time, she'll pay a bit more attention to the job she's there for.

[TrudyRN]

Who was crying, the pt or the aide?

I don't see why the sitter couldn't have checked the pt's belongings. Or she could have called the police.

She needs a fanny pack.