Date of Last Review: 4/8/11
SME: Chief Nurse Officer
Patients are placed in our care for treatment and it is important to their safety that adequate precautions are taken to prevent them from leaving the hospital unauthorized.
Procedure:
An order for elopement precautions is entered into Sunrise by the physician or by a registered nurse as an independent nursing intervention, and the physician notified of the patient's condition. The order must include the reason. A physician's order must be obtained within 24 hours of the nursing order.
Documentation of the specific behavior necessitating precautions is reflected in the progress notes. The patient is advised when precautions are being implemented and discontinued.
A Precautions Checklist is initiated with documentation every 15 minutes. All precautions are reviewed daily by the physician and registered nurse. The order will stay active/valid until it is discontinued. The R.N. will document each shift assessment on the Nursing Flow Sheet/Progress Notes.
The patient is not permitted to attend off-unit activities until the precaution is discontinued.
Elopement precautions should only be initiated on voluntary patients under the following condition: Voluntary patients initiating a letter of release shall be assessed by the physician for elopement precautions.
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