March 2017
Mayumi
Hammer
,
MA, BSN, RN, CCRN
Nursing Supervisor/Coordinator
Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
North Chicago
,
IL
United States
A homeless, wheelchair-bound veteran came to the Emergency Department in the morning for hip and leg pain with a history of alcohol and substance abuse. The patient was treated and discharged. He returned a couple hours later with suicidal thoughts and was transferred to Psych where he was evaluated by NPOD but admission was declined. The patient was unable to take care of himself, unable to walk, and was barely able to transfer from the bed to his wheelchair. He was a high risk for falls. The patient reported he had nowhere to go and nobody to pick him up. May came to the patient's room and personally assessed the functional ability and history. The patient was recently discharged from the Milwaukee VA Domiciliary program, and had been in a wheelchair since then due to his inability to walk, hip pain, and history of a right hip replacement in 2012. May advocated for the patient by calling the attending physician and finally got agreement for the patient to be admitted to the medical floor, where he was able to receive proper nursing care and Social Work support.