What is the strangest thing you have caught patients and/or their family members attempting to steal from your place of work?
We've lost a lot of tympanic thermometers, sphygmomanometers, pulse oximeters throughout the years, linens commonly vanish, and last winter someone made it into our change-room (i.e. a closet with a coat rack and tiny lockers) on our unit and stole the evening shift staff's winter coats. *Sniffles* I miss my winter coat
But this week... This week, I caught a patient's adult daughter trying to steal our brand new bladder scanner (which costs over $20,000). This thing is huge and connected to a large apparatus on wheels, yet she was wheeling it towards the elevator with such confidence and ease. When staff members attempted to address the situation it was quite a Winona Ryder moment.
A few years back when I was a tech we had a guy fish out a needle from the sharps container and used it to shoot up heroin in which he brought his own spoon and lighter. One of our nurses found him and flipped. Police were called and an investigation went on but I do not know what came out of it.
I also don't believe the residents (as in MDs in training) who eat whatever food they find, regardless of where they find it or whose name is on it. It happens to someone at least a couple of times a year -- they get called away from their lunch to deal with a patient care issue and some resident finishes the lunch while they're gone.
While my boyfriend was a resident, he and his cohorts compiled a fairly detailed cookbook of recipes only using things you could steal from the nursing unit kitchen floor stock. Miniature cheesecakes in med cups, frozen yogurt Popsicles, and the like.
Specializes in Med-Surg, OB, ICU, Public Health Nursing.
Sadly, with the population I worked with, food was the most common "theft." Visitors and friends ate the patient's food. Also, it was quite common to see homeless with wheelchairs and the hospital's name on the back.
At a previous hospital they had some of the most beautiful paintings - they were HUGE!!!
Not sure how but every week we would find that a patient of their family would pull them off the wall in rooms - and cram them in their suitcase.
We used to have the big pulse ox monitors that sat on top of the bedside table - that sucker was SO heavy - every week we would have someone try to pack one of those suckers in their bag.
Had a young lady come into emerg by ambulance with her sister who was involved in a MVC. The sister was acting strange, so we thought she might have been under the influence (the sister in the MVC was...thankfully no one was injured). She was caught taking a pair of scissors by one of the other nurses. By this time, two cell phones were reported missing, as well as supplies and a cell phone from the ambulance. RCMP was called and when they searched her, they found: 3 cell phones, bandage scissors, 2 tensor bandages, 2 calendars, straws, all the jam from the kitchenette (no peanut butter), numerous packages of 2x2 and 4x4 and all the old, bloody dressings off her sister.
Noooooo! Are u serious? That's nuts! Talk about a klepto!
I can't imagine what she planned to do with soiled dressing. Barf!
A few years back when I was a tech we had a guy fish out a needle from the sharps container and used it to shoot up heroin in which he brought his own spoon and lighter. One of our nurses found him and flipped. Police were called and an investigation went on but I do not know what came out of it.
Yikes!
Within the last year we had a pt break open a sharps and use a syringe to inject the liquid from a night-time cold gel tab (that he brought from home) shot it into his vein. That was a scary couple hours. Pt was ok.
During this same timeframe, a visitor overdosed on heroin and died in the public bathroom on my unit.
We had a patient years ago who went down to the lobby in the middle of the night and stole 3 paintings off the wall in the art gallery the auxiliary maintains. They're wired to the wall and have security alarms on them. How did he manage to get the doggone things off the wall? With a MACHETE!!!! He just chopped them down, calmly got on the elevator and headed back up to floor. He was dressed in street clothes but it was 3 oil paintings, the machete, and the CVL sticking up out of his coat collar that gave him away. He also was a lunch thief, but he only took the contents of the sandwich, not the bread.
jsbartl
18 Posts
A few years back when I was a tech we had a guy fish out a needle from the sharps container and used it to shoot up heroin in which he brought his own spoon and lighter. One of our nurses found him and flipped. Police were called and an investigation went on but I do not know what came out of it.