September 2013
Heather
Martin
,
BSN
Urgent Care
Memorial Hospital - University of Colorado Health
Colorado Springs
,
CO
United States
One night during their busy season, there was a child in the waiting room who would not stop crying. The child's intake was done with a chief complaint of "fussiness". There were no vitals out of range and nothing to indicate the child was hurt besides the fact that he was crying so hard. Heather had an uneasy feeling about the whole situation so she kept her eye on him and saw the mom take him outside so that she could smoke a cigarette. Heather noticed that the mother had left her infant in the foyer completely unattended. It was very cold outside and Heather went to get the child. This is when another mother in the waiting room got Heather's attention and told her that she just saw the mother of the patient grab her other son and lift him up above her head and push him into the window, all the while yelling at him.
About this time the mother came back in with her other son (the original patient) and Heather asked her to come with her to the observation area. The father then showed up and Heather asked him to take the son to a room and be with him while she talked with the mother. The patient stopped crying when he was with his father. The charge nurse was notified of this situation, the police and DHS were called. While waiting for the police, the mother admitted to Heather that she was on drugs. Heather saw this as an opportunity to keep the baby under direct observation until the police could arrive, so she checked them both in. The infant was lethargic and small for her age but otherwise seemed unharmed. The mother reported breast feeding while on drugs. Long story semi-short, Heather held the baby for 2 hours while the police detained the mother, and ended up arresting the father for an outstanding warrant. Heather and staff attempted to contact the grandmother to take custody of the two children, as DHS said they could not come out that night and take the children.
Seeing children being abused is one of the worst things any nurse can experience, but the entire staff kept a calm demeanor, maintained a professional attitude, and overall did what they could that was in the best interest of the children. It can be hard to keep patients in those situations calm until the proper backup arrives.
...
Screening tools are already in place to check for safety/domestic concerns of patients, but there is no substitute for a nurse's instinct. This has certainly raised Heather's awareness to what patients are doing in the waiting room or even outside the clinic. We now transfer all patients that have any major domestic concerns so that the nurse liaisons, who have more experience in this area can take the best care of the patients that fall into this category. Security is aware and sensitive to our patient population and are as available as possible when nurses call with concerns.
About this time the mother came back in with her other son (the original patient) and Heather asked her to come with her to the observation area. The father then showed up and Heather asked him to take the son to a room and be with him while she talked with the mother. The patient stopped crying when he was with his father. The charge nurse was notified of this situation, the police and DHS were called. While waiting for the police, the mother admitted to Heather that she was on drugs. Heather saw this as an opportunity to keep the baby under direct observation until the police could arrive, so she checked them both in. The infant was lethargic and small for her age but otherwise seemed unharmed. The mother reported breast feeding while on drugs. Long story semi-short, Heather held the baby for 2 hours while the police detained the mother, and ended up arresting the father for an outstanding warrant. Heather and staff attempted to contact the grandmother to take custody of the two children, as DHS said they could not come out that night and take the children.
Seeing children being abused is one of the worst things any nurse can experience, but the entire staff kept a calm demeanor, maintained a professional attitude, and overall did what they could that was in the best interest of the children. It can be hard to keep patients in those situations calm until the proper backup arrives.
...
Screening tools are already in place to check for safety/domestic concerns of patients, but there is no substitute for a nurse's instinct. This has certainly raised Heather's awareness to what patients are doing in the waiting room or even outside the clinic. We now transfer all patients that have any major domestic concerns so that the nurse liaisons, who have more experience in this area can take the best care of the patients that fall into this category. Security is aware and sensitive to our patient population and are as available as possible when nurses call with concerns.