What would you do?

HmarieD · May 31, 2012

No, I wouldn't just show up on the off chance that I would be able to work. However, I would think that the nurse or her agency would have been monitoring his status so they would know when he was discharged home. Having said that, did you notify the agency that your son was home and his care should resume?

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2012

No. If, as far as I knew, the patient was in the hospital, I wouldn't show up on the off chance that he'd been discharged and no one told me. If the patient is in the hospital, they don't need home care. Did anyone notify the agency that the child had been discharged? Ideally, upon admission the case manager should notify the agency so the patient can be put on hold and upon discharge the agency should be notified to resume care. That doesn't always happen though. I just got a call today saying that one of my patients was "still inpatient." We were never informed that she'd been admitted in the first place and she was discharged from our services a week ago.

caliotter3 · Jun 1, 2012

I never go to work without being requested by my agency. You could have called the agency to tell them when you needed the nurse. The agency will not know if you don't inform them.

Isabelle49 · Jun 6, 2012

Agreed, the agency caring for your child should have been tracking him while he was in the hospital. The agency dropped the ball. The nurse cannot be expected to show up just in case he's back home. Not to be rude, but nurses are not psychics!

84RN · Jun 9, 2012

Our clinical managers call the hospitals each day to confirm if patients are still in-patient. Most of the time, families and the ALF's don't notify the agency when a patient is returns home from the hospital. Nurses can't be expected to know if someone is at home or still in the hospital unless they're informed.