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.

[TrudyRN]

I guess we are lucky to have purse lockers at work.

These can easily be broken into. Get a fanny pack or put your absolutely essential items in your pocket. ID, a few bucks, that's it.

The theft was pretty minor compared to what could have happened.

Not for the victim.

[TrudyRN]

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.

isn't it nice to know how much the employer thinks of you? they need to put lockers there for you. and not in the break room or anywhere else where they are not visible at all times.

[ukstudent]

Sounds like a cover story to me. Maybe she "lost" a lot of money gambling or in some other way that she didn't want to admit to. Unless someone actually saw any money, you only have her word that there was any. Seems very strange that she would change her routine, bring a lot of money to work and leave it unsupervised with a pt that she was meant to be supervising, when she a not left a pt unspervised before. But then maybe I am just cynical from hearing too many stories just like this.

[firstaiddave907]

did the hosptial have a locker that this persion could of put her purse in ?

[firstyearstudent]

No one deserves to get anything stolen from them.

If you drive through a bad part of town late at night, do you deserve to get carjacked?

When you get drunk at a frat party do you deserve to get raped?

[jetscreamer101]

I am a very sympathetic person, BUT.....

What, besides money could that patient have taken from the sitters purse? I have seen lots of damage done with simple things like nail files, tweezers, etc. The fact that the sitter would take anything into a room troubles me. What if she had something that could be used as a weapon in that purse? Staff members could be put into a fairly harmful situation.

I think sitters should not carry anything into the patients room other than maybe a book.

Just my 2 cents.

What if in the short time she was out of the room, he stole something from her purse and used it to commit suicide? Or harm the sitter when she came back? While I am sorry this happened the possible outcomes are scarey.

[shellsincanada]

No one deserves to get anything stolen from them.

If you drive through a bad part of town late at night, do you deserve to get carjacked?

When you get drunk at a frat party do you deserve to get raped?

:yeahthat:

[CritterLover, BSN, RN]

no one deserves to get anything stolen from them.

if you drive through a bad part of town late at night, do you deserve to get carjacked?

when you get drunk at a frat party do you deserve to get raped?

no, no one deserves to have anything stolen from them.

[color=#483d8b]i, for one, have seen some home-health patients in some "very scary" parts of town, and after dark (and the only thing my supervisor gave me -- when i was calling for clarifications on directions -- was "don't you know you go to the hood in daylight hours only").

[color=#483d8b]that being said, you lock your purse and valuables in the trunk of your car -- not your common sense.

[color=#483d8b]i'm pretty gullable, and i don't have much sympathy; especially when the "victim" had to point out how "wronged" she had been.

[color=#483d8b]i've been the aide on the 1:1 suicide watch, while in nursing school. no fun, i agree. worth much more than the $7.15/hr i got paid for it, that is certain. however, the rules were the rules: must stay within arm's reach (and that was ten years ago). to get up and go to the kitchen was foolish, at best. as the rn, not only do i not have much sympathy (did you ask me to get the crackers????) but i don't want to hear it, either.

[pebbles, BSN, RN]

Sounds like a cover story to me. Maybe she "lost" a lot of money gambling or in some other way that she didn't want to admit to. Unless someone actually saw any money, you only have her word that there was any. Seems very strange that she would change her routine, bring a lot of money to work and leave it unsupervised with a pt that she was meant to be supervising, when she a not left a pt unspervised before. But then maybe I am just cynical from hearing too many stories just like this.

That was my EXACT thought too.

[anonymurse]

My wife is always losing keys and military IDs. I have tried to get her to do the guy's thing, which is to always have cash, keys and a few important plastic cards on one's person. This is hard for her, but it's easy for anyone to do with scrubs because any of us can buy scrubs with lots of secure pockets.

The key is to have pockets that don't dump, and to be selective about what goes in the pockets, including getting a slim wallet to hold only cash, credit cards, driver's license etc. My student scrub pants pockets were too large, and when I sat in the car or in a room as a sitter, things fell out. I lost my keys this way once.

Now I wear cargo scrub pants and I haven't lost anything. Only personal items go in the pants pockets. Nursing stuff goes in my 3-pocket top. I'll soon be going to 4-pocket tops (and/or a large Nurse Pro Pack) and 6-pocket pants, the kind with velcro retaining straps on the lower pockets (NSNA offers a $10 off certificate for purchases over $25 with Allheart.com that can be used for Aviator scrubs).

[firstyearstudent]

My wife is always losing keys and military IDs. I have tried to get her to do the guy's thing, which is to always have cash, keys and a few important plastic cards on one's person. This is hard for her, but it's easy for anyone to do with scrubs because any of us can buy scrubs with lots of secure pockets.

The key is to have pockets that don't dump, and to be selective about what goes in the pockets, including getting a slim wallet to hold only cash, credit cards, driver's license etc. My student scrub pants pockets were too large, and when I sat in the car or in a room as a sitter, things fell out. I lost my keys this way once.

Now I wear cargo scrub pants and I haven't lost anything. Only personal items go in the pants pockets. Nursing stuff goes in my 3-pocket top. I'll soon be going to 4-pocket tops (and/or a large Nurse Pro Pack) and 6-pocket pants, the kind with velcro retaining straps on the lower pockets (NSNA offers a $10 off certificate for purchases over $25 with Allheart.com that can be used for Aviator scrubs).

Thanks for the tip! I've been wondering what I'm going to do with all my nursing "stuff" once I start work in a month or so. I'll be glad to get rid of the hokey apron that tthe school has been making the gal's wear (men get a jacket top) but have come to rely on it -- especially to hold my stethoscope which I don't like to carry around my neck. (But wait a minute, I've never seen a working nurse with a steth -- heh heh.)

I saw a male nurse wearing a tool belt but it looked kind of bulky (and is probably germy).

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Way back in 1973 when I started nursing school we were told to NEVER take our purses in to the hospital with us; get a small coin purse to hold little amounts of money. I kept my car keys on a lanyard I wore around my neck. I've gotten so good at it that I don't need to carry a purse at all. Don't instructors still teach this to all students of healthcare jobs?

It was the sitter's word that money was stolen from her purse. How can that possibly be verified? Although I see someone must have been able to get the patient to agree to a search of his stuff, it's still the sitter's word that there was even something to steal. I get that the sitter is upset. Who wouldn't be when something is stolen from them? But to insist that someone recognize their emotional upset is not exactly normal when you don't even know the people you are working with. Don't see this sitter staying in a healthcare career for very long unless she learns that the patients come first.