What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida. There is a homeless man who was recently admitted to the nursing home. He is alert and oriented but has periods of confusion when he tries to walk even though he is extremely unsteady on his feet. He refuses to ask for help walking to the bathroom etc etc etc. He is now on the locked unit in the nursing home because they are trying to watch him more carefully due to fall risk. He said he would like to leave. Does he have the legal right to leave since he is not under any court order to be in a locked facility? I found no kind of "legal paperwork" anywhere in his chart.
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Can a homeless person in a nursing home be put on a locked unit without his consent?
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TheGeekess
Keeper of the Kraken
That would be a question to ask the administration of the facility. I'm sure they have Policy and Procedure to cover such an event. If not, they have access to attorneys.
I find it a little disconcerting that you, as someone who has access to patient files/charts, would post this to a public message board.
Which leads me to ask: Who are you to the situation? Nurse, Physical therapist, CNA/PCA, etc.?
Your question would best be posed to the D.o.N or the Admin at the facility.
Proserpina
Senior Member
eerelations
Senior Member
Very interesting.
commentator
Senior Member
I suppose this person would rather the patient be allowed to leave, to die on the street the next time they have a period of confusion?
Ohiogal
Queen Bee
(posting history)Proserpina
Senior Member
eerelations
Senior Member
It's not the question that's difficult, it's YOU that's difficult.
Proserpina
Senior Member
It's not an "extremely difficult legal question".
This is not the appropriate forum for such a question though.
And there are details that you CAN NOT provide (for a number of reasons but just a couple: You are not a party to the issue at hand and what information you do have will have been obtained by your position--and the information you have is PHI! There's this little thing called HIPAA...)
Example:
*How old is this person? Can you answer that without knowledge you gained from the person's chart
*What are his diagnoses/diagnosis? (and for goodness sake don't actually post them)
*Is he a danger to himself or to others if he is not on a locked unit? (sounds like if he gets confused, refuses to seek help to ambulate, etc. he is most definitely at risk for harming himself)
*Does he have someone as a POA? (again, can't answer that one without info you got from his chart), Or a family member assisting with decisions? or perhaps a court order of some sort?
*Do you see this man 24/7? Or just on the shift that you work? How often do you see him? Could his behavior/condition vary greatly when you aren't there?
If you want to be a patient advocate, then I suggest you get yourself into some sort of case management line of work. But, you still don't need to broadcast the situation on a very public message board.
Learn to respect your patient's privacy. I'm beginning to wonder exactly what sort of nursing education you have!
Zigner
Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Don't let the door hit ya on the way out!