We're trending towards placing all psych patients into gowns, placing their belonings into labeled belongings bags and keeping those bags at the nurses station.
They're trying to do this to keep the chances of having a psych patient leave when they shouldn't to a minimum. No sentinal event yet, but just waiting for the suicidal patient to slip out and come back as a code.
The logic is that way it's harder for a patient to sneak out. Kinda hard to sneak out when you're in a gown, your clothes are locked away. Makes you very easy to spot in a crowd. :)
We get them into gowns and put belongings in bags; this, after a few too many walking out without any one stopping them because they looked like visitors, few too many indulging in their drug of choice right in the room...and true story, caught on our video monitor; one suicidal Baker Act walking out with a security guard pointing him in the right direction of the ER exit. (security thought he was a visitor)
Just a funny: At one hospital that I traveled to, I got charcoal on my uniform, changed into a set of those blue paper scrubs used for the psych patients. Left the ER, out thru front door and across the parking lot on top of the parking garage and drove home. I must have passed 5 or 6 security folks and no telling how many nurses/medical persons (this is a very large place so I wasn't known well). After I got home, I thought about what a safeguard those scrubs really were.
We're supposed to strip everyone down and take away their belongings, but once they've been through the system once they know they don't get their stuff back on demand. So they refuse the second time. Our ER team at night is a maintenance guy, the secretary, and me, and none of us look very intimidating. So I've learned to "help" them undress when they get in and lie down, and go for the shoes first!
This is a very well known ER policy in my area. All BA52's and otherwise dangerous pts. are placed in a gown and belongings are bagged and tagged and taken to the nurses station. The only time these items are gone through is if they are admitted, or for need of unknown information. This policy can only help... if you ask me.
neneRN, BSN, RN
642 Posts
We get them into gowns and put belongings in bags; this, after a few too many walking out without any one stopping them because they looked like visitors, few too many indulging in their drug of choice right in the room...and true story, caught on our video monitor; one suicidal Baker Act walking out with a security guard pointing him in the right direction of the ER exit. (security thought he was a visitor)