What would you have done?

[NJNursing]

Ok we had this patient the past 2 weeks. He's a professional athlete who had a of things go wrong during his admission. As charge nurse (and for the first week or so I knew nothing about him other than some people relayed to him as a PITA) I felt compelled to help smooth things over. So last week I went in to introduce myself and try to make his stay better. Everyone (administration included) were bending over backwards for this guy, so needless to say I payed extra attention to him to make sure his needs (physical, emotional, etc) need were met and he's really a nice guy and I enjoyed talking to him. He's very far from home and it's the holidays. He had a lot of people's cell phone numbers (mine included in case any issues arose when I was off - i'm the only 'official' night charge). On saturday he called me up (my day off) and asked if I could pick him up and take him to his hotel as his kids (early 20's) had gone to get airline tickets and he wasn't anticipating on the discharge. I was already out shopping and in the area and the hotel was about 1.5 miles away. I said yes. I picked him up, asked him how the last few days had gone and if he had felt better. He said he was and was glad to be going home.

Cut to Christmas Eve. My director calls me at home saying she wants to have an extensive meeting tomorrow morning. Do you guys think I was over the line? I felt like I was helping both my unit and the patient and avoiding issues all the way around. It was my day off, so it's not like I was on the clock. I'm so worried now about getting my tail chewed off that I haven't slept since Christmas eve and I'm having terrible GI distress.

[NJNursing, ASN, RN]

I think they were referring to the OP. There is way too much personal info given on this thread about the patient. From her posts, it would be very easy to figure out who this person is...

I've seent as much (if not more sometimes) posted about people and their patients around here. I was trying to give a 'whole picture' view. You're really angry about this for whatever reason that is personal to you, but criticizing isn't helping.

In my mind I was helping with 'damage control' and going a little out of the way to be nice was my way of contributing to that.

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

What I'm not understanding is why did administration and the OP give this patient their personal cell phone numbers? Simply because he's well known? That's the only reason I can come up with. In that case administration had no right to chastise the OP for doing the same thing they did. They are equally as guilty.

The fact that she gave him a ride on her day off is her business. The wrong thing was giving out her cell phone number but she only did what administration did and are they not supposed to setting an example for others? Shame on them.

They need to apoligize to her. IMHO. Not cause problems.

I personally would never transport a patient for legal reasons.

[EmmaG, RN]

I've seent as much (if not more sometimes) posted about people and their patients around here. I was trying to give a 'whole picture' view. You're really angry about this for whatever reason that is personal to you, but criticizing isn't helping.

I'm not angry at all. And my criticism stands--- you've posted enough personal info about this person that it would be very easy to figure out who it is (especially for those who follow his sport). If you don't wish to edit your posts, then that's on you.

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

A lot of personal, identifying info about this pt is in this thread- maybe some should be edited out?

Yes, I do think some professional boundaries were crossed. If mgmt gave them their personal cell numbers, they also crossed the line.

Imagine the liability and issues that would have come up had you been in a car accident with the pt in your car.

I worked a home-care job once where an RN was fired her first week for driving a pt to run an errand in her personal car.

[steelcityrn, RN]

As a nurse, we are to provide a patient with the best care we can give. We are not supposed to speak about heresay, problems they had, speaking to them about how a employee may have caused them harm. This to me is over the line, and I am not buying the reasons why it was done. This is the first post I have read on here that is practically telling everyone who the person is. I agree with emmanuel on this one.

[flightnurse2b, LPN]

i'm sorry, but i agree with MLOS and Emmanuel.

i would never in a million years give out my cell phone number to any patient, unless i knew them before they were admitted. and if a patient ever asked me for a ride, i dont care if its brad pitt or derek jeter, i wouldn't do it for all my patients.. so i wouldn't do it for them. i wouldn't feel comfortable. when they are out of the hospital, my responsibility to them and relationship with them is over.

i really used to hate when people would come in the ER and say they were a VIP. its not going to make me take care of you any differently than i would take care of a prostitute or a bum. you still get the same hospital bed, the same bedpan, the same crummy food, the same 18g IV, whatever... you will still get care to the absolute best of my ability, but i am not going to put a mint on your pillow because you are richer and more famous than the average joe.

and lastly, i know who the athlete is you are speaking of from your the information provided in your post. please be more careful.

i truly believe that you driving him was an innocent and kind-hearted thing to do. and i commend you for going out of your way to help someone. but it did, IMHO, cross the line. one of my instructors in nursing school once said "act like a nurse, but think like an attorney"

[rn/writer, RN]

To all of you who expressed concerns over the posting of information that could possibly identify a patient or incriminate a hospital, this material has now been removed. That includes references made to it in other posts.

Thank you for your thoughts. In the future, I would encourage you to use the "report post" triangle (in the upper righthand corner of each post) so that staff can address the situation as soon as it arises. The moderators appreciate your help in letting us know something needs attention.

The topic of the rest of this thread should focus on the boundary issues, special treatment for VIPs, making yourself personally available to patients, etc.--questions or comments related to the OP's above-and-beyond care for this patient.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Physicians routinely give out their cell phone numbers to VIP patients. I myself have done it on several occassions. I'm not aware of any policy against it with us.

In my mind, whatever "boundaries" were crossed here are between you and yourself. What you do on your off time (including driving patients around) is your business, not your employer's.

What you did was kind, and potentially generated good feelings that could (based on what you describe in your posts) potentially spare your facility from legitimate complaints of negligence and malpractice. If anything, your supervisors should be thanking you.

I have to chime in here before reading the rest of the thread. Our physicians home phone numbers are listed in the phone book and they routinely get phone calls at home from patients. Some show up on their doorway.

I've given rides home to patients who don't have transportation. (Think rural - no bus, no cab). We also paid for a hotel room and meals for a pregnant teenager who came in for non-pregnancy related problem. I gave her a ride to the motel and took her groceries later.

The only thing that I worry about is if this guy received VIP treatment that just a "regular joe" would not receive.

Our docs also make house calls.

And I've gone into a patient's home to remove an umbilical clamp from a newborn.

steph

[NJNursing, ASN, RN]

i'm sorry, but i agree with MLOS and Emmanuel.

iand lastly, i know who the athlete is you are speaking of from your the information provided in your post. please be more careful.

I somehow doubt you know who it is based on that little bit of info. Do you know how many extreme sports athletes there are out there? Hundreds. I never said which extremem sport (there's tons - skateboarding, motocross, skiing, snowboarding, wake boarding, rock climbing, cliff diving, parachuting and so on and so forth....). To be able to pick one out of the hundreds (if not thousands, I don't know I don't follow the sport) is ludicrous.

And thanks stevielynn. Yes, I went above and beyond for this person, but I had done it for others too. We had a truck driver a few months ago from a southern state with a broken leg. He didn't have a lot of money and before he left I picked him up a phone card and I had called his wife from MY cell phone and spoke to her at length and with the patient because he was homesick and she was missing him.

Other nurses have taken patients home if family couldn't come and it was either a) not far from the hospital or b) on their way home. To me that crosses the line more than if someone came in on their day off like I did.

I'm still really irritated about the whole situation. I did the same as everyone else in the hospital had done (including higher up administration - like our CEO!) but I seem to be the only one getting reprimanded for it. I don't know if it's because I'm the low nurse on the totem pole in this whole chain of command or what. Who knows. It's certainly a learning experience and has kind of soured me a little thinking I don't ever want to go "above and beyond" for ANY patient ever again lest I get chastised for it.

[Jules A, MSN]

I haven't offered any opinion on whether or not what you did violated your facilities policies because thats between you and them but what I find really discouraging is that even though it was hinted at, then blatantly pointed out you still seem to think that the amount of information you provided wasn't enough to identify this client. I disagree. If his neighbor, child, wife or any of your coworkers happened upon this site...yes we are public no matter how cozy it might feel, there is no doubt in my mind that you have in fact given enough information not only to violate his confidentiality but also to jeopardize your license.

Just my opinion. Its not about trying to make you feel bad just that hopefully we all can use examples here to learn and grow.

P.S. I will have to say that if Brad Pitt asks for a ride, Nurse Jules will be happy to oblige and just take the whippin from my boss later. I'll take a pass on Derek Jeter because he hasn't aged as gracefully as I would have thought. :)

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

I live and work in an area where there are alot of famous people. It makes me ill to see how these people are catered to. They, above all else, are sometimes not billed for their stay so that the press won't know that they had been in. :angryfire:angryfire:angryfire

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

I have to chime in here before reading the rest of the thread. Our physicians home phone numbers are listed in the phone book and they routinely get phone calls at home from patients. Some show up on their doorway.

I've given rides home to patients who don't have transportation. (Think rural - no bus, no cab). We also paid for a hotel room and meals for a pregnant teenager who came in for non-pregnancy related problem. I gave her a ride to the motel and took her groceries later.

The only thing that I worry about is if this guy received VIP treatment that just a "regular joe" would not receive.

Our docs also make house calls.

And I've gone into a patient's home to remove an umbilical clamp from a newborn.

steph

Thats how it is here, too. (rural) We think nothing of giving our patients rides home, taking paperwork to them that they forgot to sign or special instructions, etc. Most of our patients are my neighbors or go to my church. How can I say no if one asked me for a ride? I already know them, or know them quite well from being in the hospital so many times over. (we get the same patients over and over.) Most of the patients know where I live, I know where they live, same with the doctors. They are also listed in the phone book. I can't imagine telling them no if they asked for a ride! They would give me a ride if I needed one! Many have offered when they saw me out walking with my dd if it was raining or whatever.