The nurse enters a patient's room to complete the discharge paperwork and finds the patient in tears. The patient reports that someone from the business office stated they could not leave the hospital until the bill was paid
What is the best nursing action? a. Comfort the patient and continue the preparations for discharge.
b. Call the social worker for a financial evaluation.
c. Call the family to arrange for the payment.
d. Cancel the discharge plans and notify the physician of the situation.
A
The best action is to comfort the patient and continue the discharge preparations. If the patient's claim is accurate, this could be false imprisonment (wrongfully making someone believe that they cannot leave a place). The nurse's best action is to comfort the patient and continue the discharge preparations. However, this should also be reported to the supervisor. Calling the social worker or the contacting the family is not appropriate.
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