What is the strangest thing...

[CaffeinePOQ4HPRN]

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.

[NursesRmofun, ASN, RN]

The most blatant episode of out-and-out theft I know about was a patient who walked by the nurses station on his way out and quickly swiped a nurse's cell phone (why it was sitting on the desk is another issue, but she didn't deserve to have it stolen). She called it later, he answered, and she eventually got it back.

What always gets me is not the stealing, but people who ask for stuff--and are, usually, allowed to take it. For example: "it's cold outside, can I have a warm blanket to take home?" "I need some extra gowns to take home." "Get me a pair of them hospital socks. (The grippy kind...not for the patient, but for a family member to take home)." "I need a turkey sandwich before I go." (And I guess this is stealing, because then all the visitors with this patient raid our fridge.) "I ran out of the meds for my nebulizer at home. Can I have one to take with me? Well, I can't get to the pharmacy today, so I need more like 12." "They need to get me a prescription for this tylenol/ibuprofen/Eucerin lotion. Oh, and I came in by ambulance--I'll need a cab slip."

Never heard of cab slips. That's a new one on me.

[NanaPoo]

We had a peds patient's parents steal their child's fentanyl gtt. Off the pump. While it was running. Cut the IV tubing and left.

No, he ended up not going home with said 'parents'.

Holeeeeey craaaaapppp.

My father-in-law takes all the boxes of gloves remaining in the wall units (and anything else that's not nailed down) home with him at the end of a hospital stay (or family member's hospital stay) saying "we paid for these."

[Duttygal86, BSN, RN]

When I gave birth to my daughter my mom took EVERYTHING from my hospital room. Diapers, formula, blankets, pillows etc. When I did my maternity rotation last semester the nurses were complaining about a patient hoarding all of the diapers and I was like "oh, I thought it was normal to take all of the diapers before you get discharged." Also, whenever I went for a physical growing up my mom would take alcohol wipes, gauze, band-aids....whatever was in the drawer.

[Deborahreeves]

We had a mom attempt to steal automatic leg compressors as her immobile son was being discharged from our unit. The ironic thing is the mother was also a nurse at one of our sister hospitals. When the patient's nurse confronted the mom with her actions, the grandmother proceeded to slap the nurse in the face, calling her a liar. Not joking...

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

The most blatant episode of out-and-out theft I know about was a patient who walked by the nurses station on his way out and quickly swiped a nurse's cell phone (why it was sitting on the desk is another issue, but she didn't deserve to have it stolen). She called it later, he answered, and she eventually got it back.

What always gets me is not the stealing, but people who ask for stuff--and are, usually, allowed to take it. For example: "it's cold outside, can I have a warm blanket to take home?" "I need some extra gowns to take home." "Get me a pair of them hospital socks. (The grippy kind...not for the patient, but for a family member to take home)." "I need a turkey sandwich before I go." (And I guess this is stealing, because then all the visitors with this patient raid our fridge.) "I ran out of the meds for my nebulizer at home. Can I have one to take with me? Well, I can't get to the pharmacy today, so I need more like 12." "They need to get me a prescription for this tylenol/ibuprofen/Eucerin lotion. Oh, and I came in by ambulance--I'll need a cab slip."

Who, in the name of the Lord, would wear those ugly, not-even-butt-covering gowns anywhere outside of the hospital??

I heard about folks who tried to get hospital scrubs but these at least remain the clothes most people wear every day. One can go somewhere outside wearing scrubs and that would be ok if they are at least relatively clean... but these "gowns"?

[NuGuyNurse2b]

Never heard of cab slips. That's a new one on me.

oh yeah, we have those, too. Our unit saves the flower vases that patient's leave behind. Why? because people bring in bouquets and ask us if we have vases for them. why would a hospital have that as a supply...

[CBlover, BSN, RN]

Bed pans and water pitchers

I tell my patients to take their water pitchers home. What's wrong with them taking that home? And really there's nothing wrong with taking a bedpan home either. It gets thrown away although that's gross.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

Hmmm.. People will honestly steal anything they can get their hands on, regardless how germy, bloody, gross or useless (to them) it is. Also having something chained, locked, or glued down is nothing more than a challenge to said patients. If they really want it you won't stop them from stealing it..

One of our patients kept stealing ALL of the ketchup, mayo, and mustard packets.. I mean dumping them all into her purse. The lady stole large boxes worth of condiments.. She was told to stop several times during her stay. On her way out the door she did it again and was stopped by staff. She said it was how she "got by". Not sure what that means since she was one of our more well known wealthier patients.. Hope it helped her "survive" those hard times.

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

I once had a pt request to take home his chest tube atrium after we pulled it. Ummm...No?

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Maybe sell it on E-bay - I get a lot of stuff on E-Bay for my Zombie Apocalypse kit.

I would bet you money they planned to do pregnancy ultrasounds with it!

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

OMG...did they at least clamp the tube!?

Thankfully, it had a microclave on the IV site.

[LibraSunCNM, BSN, MSN, CNM]

When I gave birth to my daughter my mom took EVERYTHING from my hospital room. Diapers, formula, blankets, pillows etc. When I did my maternity rotation last semester the nurses were complaining about a patient hoarding all of the diapers and I was like "oh, I thought it was normal to take all of the diapers before you get discharged." Also, whenever I went for a physical growing up my mom would take alcohol wipes, gauze, band-aids....whatever was in the drawer.

As a postpartum nurse I was always baffled as to how some patients viewed a stay in the hospital to have a baby as being akin to "Supermarket Sweep." Taking the supplies left in the bassinette with you is one thing (they will be tossed by housekeeping when you leave), but the patients who purposely lied about needing supplies so they could hoard a huge stash before discharge just made me crazy.