So, what do you do?

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Today, I had an inmate confess attempted murder to me. He has pled not guilty to the charges but told me flat out that he did it. I work in a county jail.

I'm feeling like there is a duty to report this. I don't think it is covered by HIPPA since he just came and sat by me in the dayroom and asked me to get him clean needles for his dope habit, which he must have known wasn't a medical request and that I'd say no. I didn't do any assessment or charting for him today at all.

Thoughts? Anyone else gotten an unsolicited confession?

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Specializes in Corrections, Psych.

Dang. That's kind of a tough one. Most likely I would write an informative and discuss it with my DON/Administrator before taking it to custody, but that's because the medical/custody relationship here is rather dysfunctional. At my previous facility, I would have written an informative and talked to the Captain and let custody handle it from there. Basically, my point is if you feel like it was a serious enough statement that you feel like you need to tell someone, do it in a matter-of-fact "During rounds, Inmate Blah stated "blahblahblah"..." kind of manner; you'll have it off your chest, and what happens from there will be up to custody, etc. Good luck! :)

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Yeah very weird do a psych referral and inform housing sgt.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

I'd have a meeting with your DON & rank.

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Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.

I would definitely file an incident report on it. It isn't a HIPAA issue because it doesn't involve health information.

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