Dr. Sandy Leake, Whitney Owen, Ricky Dixon, Melissa Gilliam,
Dana Bailey, Kayla Lee, April Humphrey, Dr. George Baddour
Dana Bailey, Kayla Lee, April Humphrey, Dr. George Baddour
May 2021
Joint Replacement
Center Team
7 East
The University of Tennessee Medical Center
Knoxville
,
TN
United States
Whitney Owen, MSN, RN, CMSRN, Nurse Manager
Melissa Gilliam, BSN, RN, ONC
Dana Bailey, RN
Kayla Lee, MSN, RN, CCM, Case Manager
William Chagnon, K-9 Officer
Melissa Gilliam, BSN, RN, ONC
Dana Bailey, RN
Kayla Lee, MSN, RN, CCM, Case Manager
William Chagnon, K-9 Officer
Our family truly believes you all saved her life, for that we are forever grateful to you all!
The team was patient and ensured a patient who presented to the hospital with questionable circumstances was discharged to a safe place. The fears were that the patient would be taken to Florida and never be returned to her family in Michigan. This was prevented and a safe return to her family was achieved with the quick thinking and follow up by all team members involved.
***
A patient was admitted to a room from the Trauma Surgical Intensive Care Unit. She was a motor vehicle crash patient who was traveling from Michigan to Florida with a man that identified himself as her husband. The reason for the trip to Florida was to visit their son according to the “husband”. The UTMC Case Manager (CM) received a phone call from the patient’s family in Michigan. The patient’s niece who reported she is a designated POA had called to give the CM updates on the patient’s situation. The man that the patient is with is not her husband. The patient’s husband recently died approximately 1 year ago.
The man that is here, XXX. The patient met him through a landscaping flyer, and he came to do work for the patient at her home. Three days later XXX had moved into the house with the patient. The niece reports the patient does not have any children and she is not sure who they are going to see in Florida as the number of stories the niece has been told are each different. At first it was they were going to see XXX’s son, then they were going to see a friend’s son, and then they were just going to see friends. The niece also reports her aunt has been spending money on items she normally would not spend money on. The niece reports there has been an Adult Protected Services report submitted in Michigan but is unsure of the report/case number. The niece states that if XXX is not able to bring her back to Michigan, the family would plan to come and get the patient.
The CM made Adult Protective Services (APS) reports for the patient in Tennessee and in Michigan. The CM said after speaking with the nurse and the Team Leader, concerns were made about the likelihood of XXX taking the patient to Michigan at the time of discharge. He had various moments of agitation throughout the patient’s stay with the staff. He seemed to get more agitated when he was questioning the date of discharge for the patient. He seemed inpatient to wait until the physicians cleared the patient for discharge. The CM thought it was in the patient’s best interest to notify the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) at this time about the situation.
KPD arrived at the hospital and opened an investigation on XXX. With the opening of an investigation XXX would need to leave the hospital’s premises and give all IDs and credit cards back to the patient. XXX was not in the room when KPD came to speak with him, but instructions were left to notify UTMC Security upon his arrival. UTMC Security would talk to him about the concerns and investigation, and escort him off campus. The nurses notified the niece that the patient would be discharged, and the family made arrangements to fly down that morning to get the patient.
XXX arrived back to the patient’s room and the Team Leader notified UTMC Security. When UTMC Security was speaking with XXX about the investigation and the concerns, he became agitated. He was instructed to get his things out of the room, return the patient’s ID and credit cards, and he would be escorted off the property. It was at this time that he continued to get violent and was detained by the UTMC Security officers. The patient was moved rooms by the nurses for her safety while she awaited her family’s arrival the following day. She was subsequently discharged to the care of her niece and returned to Michigan.
***
Reaching out to let you know that our aunt made it home today safe and sound. I (we) cannot thank you and your entire team enough, security included, for the amazing care you provided our aunt. You and your 7 East team treated her like your own family and kept her safe out of harm’s way. That meant so much to us since we were so far away because she means the world to all of us. Our family truly believes you all saved her life, for that we are forever grateful to you all! You all exemplified the true meaning of “patient-centered care”. Our aunt is staying with family for the next week or so to decompress and start the healing process, then from there, we will find her the right place to settle into.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Please make sure everyone who had a part in her care receives this email, so they know how grateful we are. You guys rock!
***
A patient was admitted to a room from the Trauma Surgical Intensive Care Unit. She was a motor vehicle crash patient who was traveling from Michigan to Florida with a man that identified himself as her husband. The reason for the trip to Florida was to visit their son according to the “husband”. The UTMC Case Manager (CM) received a phone call from the patient’s family in Michigan. The patient’s niece who reported she is a designated POA had called to give the CM updates on the patient’s situation. The man that the patient is with is not her husband. The patient’s husband recently died approximately 1 year ago.
The man that is here, XXX. The patient met him through a landscaping flyer, and he came to do work for the patient at her home. Three days later XXX had moved into the house with the patient. The niece reports the patient does not have any children and she is not sure who they are going to see in Florida as the number of stories the niece has been told are each different. At first it was they were going to see XXX’s son, then they were going to see a friend’s son, and then they were just going to see friends. The niece also reports her aunt has been spending money on items she normally would not spend money on. The niece reports there has been an Adult Protected Services report submitted in Michigan but is unsure of the report/case number. The niece states that if XXX is not able to bring her back to Michigan, the family would plan to come and get the patient.
The CM made Adult Protective Services (APS) reports for the patient in Tennessee and in Michigan. The CM said after speaking with the nurse and the Team Leader, concerns were made about the likelihood of XXX taking the patient to Michigan at the time of discharge. He had various moments of agitation throughout the patient’s stay with the staff. He seemed to get more agitated when he was questioning the date of discharge for the patient. He seemed inpatient to wait until the physicians cleared the patient for discharge. The CM thought it was in the patient’s best interest to notify the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) at this time about the situation.
KPD arrived at the hospital and opened an investigation on XXX. With the opening of an investigation XXX would need to leave the hospital’s premises and give all IDs and credit cards back to the patient. XXX was not in the room when KPD came to speak with him, but instructions were left to notify UTMC Security upon his arrival. UTMC Security would talk to him about the concerns and investigation, and escort him off campus. The nurses notified the niece that the patient would be discharged, and the family made arrangements to fly down that morning to get the patient.
XXX arrived back to the patient’s room and the Team Leader notified UTMC Security. When UTMC Security was speaking with XXX about the investigation and the concerns, he became agitated. He was instructed to get his things out of the room, return the patient’s ID and credit cards, and he would be escorted off the property. It was at this time that he continued to get violent and was detained by the UTMC Security officers. The patient was moved rooms by the nurses for her safety while she awaited her family’s arrival the following day. She was subsequently discharged to the care of her niece and returned to Michigan.
***
Reaching out to let you know that our aunt made it home today safe and sound. I (we) cannot thank you and your entire team enough, security included, for the amazing care you provided our aunt. You and your 7 East team treated her like your own family and kept her safe out of harm’s way. That meant so much to us since we were so far away because she means the world to all of us. Our family truly believes you all saved her life, for that we are forever grateful to you all! You all exemplified the true meaning of “patient-centered care”. Our aunt is staying with family for the next week or so to decompress and start the healing process, then from there, we will find her the right place to settle into.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Please make sure everyone who had a part in her care receives this email, so they know how grateful we are. You guys rock!