# Can I leave a hospital whenever I want? Seriously. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161 "2010-07-09T22:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/61 "2010-07-13T21:16:57Z")
One time I was having some tests done at the hospital, which included an IV so they could inject dye. I had done the first test, and was told it would be at least another 4 hours before the next test, so I should get something to eat. So I went home and had lunch, with the IV still in my hand. I got back to the hospital well before the 4 hour deadline, and when they brought me in for the test about an hour and a half later, the nurse apologized for the long wait. I told her, “That’s OK, I just went home for a while.” She freaked out. Couldn’t believe I drove home with an IV needle in my hand. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/62 "2010-07-13T21:23:51Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > They can’t force you to use a wheelchair either. Just start walking, some aide will probally follow you with the wheelchair all the way to the exit pleading, but they’re certainly not going to try to restrain you and tie you to the chair. The last time I was in hospital the nurses kept insisting I ride a wheelcair when I was discharged. I kept saying no and walked away. One nurse even tried to get to stop by grabbing my arm. After 2 days in hospital I wasn’t exactly in the best mood and I responded by (very loudly) telling her to keep her fucking hands off me and refering to her as a bitch. My parents were there to drive me home and naturally this horrified my mother and caused my father burst out in laughter. They can’t force you, but they will annoy the fuck out of you, and will try to strongly _imply_, without actually saying so, that they have some kind of legal authority to tell you what to do. I once got a dressing down from a hospital adminstrator for leaving my room to find a pay phone so I could call someone and let them know I’d been admitted to the hospital via the ER. This administrator kept telling me about the “rules” I had to follow. She kept on yapping, and finally I told her to STFU and left the hospital. I didn’t sign a damn thing. Another time I was in the hospital recovering from knee replacement surgery. Not exactly life-threatening stuff. So on the second day, when I could hobble around a bit, I decided I wanted to go outside for a smoke. I was dressed adequately (another battle I had - I refused to wear that ridiculous gown). I hobbled to the elevator and towards the door, where a security guard first told me that I couldn’t go outside, then when I told him I was indeed going outside, grabbed my arm to restrain me. He abandoned this course of action very fast. Although I wasn’t in much condition to stop him, the friend walking with me was, and he saw the error of his ways. Then, after I’d had my smoke, he attempted to prevent me from returning to the hospital. Again, I ignored him and went back to my room. I later got a visit from some doctor who wanted to lecture me. The doctor got told to fuck off, that I was a paying customer purchasing a service, and that if I wanted to go outside, I would. If they wanted to kick me out, that was fine with me, but until then, I’d do what I liked. Doctors (and hospitals) sometimes (well, always) need to be reminded that they work for their patients, not the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/63 "2010-07-13T23:28:49Z")
And if you’d fallen on your post op knee 'cuz you were being a jerk people still would have felt bad for you, and been taken away from their other patients to deal with your self important ass. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/64 "2010-07-13T23:33:42Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Assuming you are reasonably dextrous, why would removing an ordinary IV yourself **carefully** cause any more bleeding/bruising than behaving yourself and letting a nurse do it? So long as you put direct pressure on the site until a clot forms, you shouldn’t have any trouble. > [@muldoonthief](#): > > She freaked out. Couldn’t believe I drove home with an IV needle in my hand. We send people home with IVs all the time, they come in every 12 to 24 hours for repeat antibiotics for a few days and then we take it out. Saves the price of admission to the hospital for certain types of infections. ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/65 "2010-07-13T23:44:27Z")
When I was discharged after a 6 1/2 week hospital stay last year (necrotizing fasciitis), they asked me if I wanted a wheelchair. I said “No, thank you” and walked (slowly and painfully but on my own two feet, damn it!) to the exit. I did have my sister go and get her car out of the lot while I sat inside the lobby. No one followed me to the exit, nor did I sign anything post “wheelchair-question”. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/66 "2010-07-14T00:10:50Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I told her, “That’s OK, I just went home for a while.” She freaked out. Couldn’t believe I drove home with an IV needle in my hand. I’ve removed an IV from myself a couple of times. Both times I’d been told a nurse would come around to remove it in a sec and then I could go home. Both times, after waiting at least an hour, I took it out, told the person on the desk I was going, and that was that. (and no, it wasn’t the case that they were waiting for 1 hour deliberately as a test of something: it was simply because they were busy) ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/67 "2010-07-14T00:36:08Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > And if you’d fallen on your post op knee 'cuz you were being a jerk people still would have felt bad for you, and been taken away from their other patients to deal with your self important ass. Nonsense. The doctors had me on my feet within twelve hours of the surgery. They _encouraged_ me to walk around. I wouldn’t have walked anywhere if I didn’t know I could do it, and had not been told that I could do it by my doctor. My point is that a sane adult does not surrender authority over his or her person or actions when he or she enters a hospital. But hospital staff act as if they have some right to issue orders and edicts. This is universally true, in my experience (I’ve had an unfortunate number of ER visits, resulting in admission, due to bad luck and dangerous jobs). ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/68 "2010-07-14T01:58:29Z")
Strikes me as the universal part of this equation is you. I and my coworkers routinely remind pts of their rights. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/69 "2010-07-14T02:17:46Z")
Doctors and nurses do have an unfortunate but understandable tendency to treat their patients like interchangeable objects rather than human beings. Your one week stay in the hospital that is a very big deal to you is just another day at the office to them, and sometimes it shows in de-humanizing ways. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/70 "2010-07-14T02:30:20Z")
In Florida you can be held against your will in a hospital according to the Baker Act > **[Baker Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Mental_Health_Act)** > > The Florida Mental Health Act of 1971 (Florida Statute 394.451-394.47891 \[2009 rev.\]), commonly known as the "Baker Act", allows the involuntary institutionalization and examination of an individual. > The Baker Act allows for involuntary examination (what some call emergency or involuntary commitment), which can be initiated by judges, law enforcement officials, physicians, or mental health professionals and close friends and relatives. There must be evidence that the person: > Both of these are... “The Baker Act allows for involuntary examination (what some call emergency or involuntary commitment). It can be initiated by judges, law enforcement officials, physicians or mental health professionals. There must be evidence that the person has a mental illness (as defined in the Baker Act) and is a harm to self, harm to others, or self neglectful (as defined in the Baker Act).” An acquaintance of mine attempted suicide and found out the hard way that she couldn’t just get up and walk out of the hospital when she came to. It was ugly and she ended up in the hospital for several days getting evaluations by mental health people before she was allowed to leave. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/71 "2010-07-14T11:40:18Z")
> [@BoBettie](#): > > In Florida you can be held against your will in a hospital according to the Baker Act > [Baker Act - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Mental_Health_Act) > > “The Baker Act allows for involuntary examination (what some call emergency or involuntary commitment). It can be initiated by judges, law enforcement officials, physicians or mental health professionals. There must be evidence that the person > has a mental illness (as defined in the Baker Act) and > is a harm to self, harm to others, or self neglectful (as defined in the Baker Act).” > > An acquaintance of mine attempted suicide and found out the hard way that she couldn’t just get up and walk out of the hospital when she came to. It was ugly and she ended up in the hospital for several days getting evaluations by mental health people before she was allowed to leave. So far as I know, and as has been mentioned already in this thread, most states have provisions for holding patients ‘against their will’ if the patient is demonstrably not able to make such decisions for themselves. This certainly would include mental illness. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/72 "2010-07-14T17:02:35Z")
On a related note, hospitals expect people to meekly comply with all sorts of procedures that are not necessarily in their best interests,and most do. When I’ve been hospitalized, I asked my doc if I really need all these daily blood tests and the like, and he said no. He gave me guidelines for how much I needed to take and I took these and refused the rest. The nurses were pretty good about it, once I said I wouldn’t do it. But most people never think to even ask. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/73 "2010-07-14T17:05:14Z")
But isn’t he the one ordering all the blood tests and such? If he doesn’t think you need them, he can just not order them. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/74 "2010-07-14T18:38:29Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > But isn’t he the one ordering all the blood tests and such? If he doesn’t think you need them, he can just not order them. He also want’s to keep his ass covered in case of a malpractice suit. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/75 "2010-07-15T01:46:10Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Strikes me as the universal part of this equation is you. I and my coworkers routinely remind pts of their rights. Well, it’s certainly true that the constant in stories I tell about my experiences is me. I don’t know where you practice (I’m guessing you’re a physician). The incidents I describe took place at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, and New York Downtown Hospital, then known as Beekman Downtown and, I was told by my excellent GP at the time, on the verge of closing and to be avoided at all costs. The surgeon who did the knee surgery (at Lenox Hill) is apparently pretty famous for it, and thought of as the master of knees around here, and is also pretty well known for his colossal ego. It should be said that I’ve never had a moment’s trouble after the replacement, no pain at all after the first week or two (and it’s been around seven years), and it appears that he did a spectacular job. Still, not the kind of guy you’d want to hang out with. As to being reminded, or told for the first time, of my “rights”, well, nope, can’t remember anything like that. I do remember a lot of talk about rules. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/76 "2010-07-15T19:11:27Z")
Naw, I’m an ER nurse in a small coastal hospital in central California. I’ve also had plenty of drug seekers, lunatic parents and temporarily altered pts who would have loved to be able to dictate to me as their employee. I suppose if you wandered around your mechanics shop smoking, or played with your plumbers tools and they objected you’d tell them to STFU you work for me? It would be nice if we could custom tailor everyones stay to their specific needs without ever taking any chances with their, or anyone elses health, and without anyone overestimating their abilities, but we can’t. Sometimes fasten your safety belt and put your tray in it’s upright position is just part of keeping the whole plane flying even if you don’t see how it applies to you. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/77 "2010-07-15T21:22:23Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > But isn’t he the one ordering all the blood tests and such? Apparently not. The hospital routinely drew blood every morning. Seems like it was some sort of general policy. (This was Mt. Sinai in NY.) One thing that was striking about being in a hospital was the sheer number of people who had their hands on you, and they weren’t all coordinated with each other. The guy I placed my trust in was my doctor, who had admitting privileges at the hospital, but the hospital itself had their own people - residents and such - who would show up and do their own thing. Plus they had general doctors, specialists, pain specialists, nutritionists and so on. Not all these people had a clear idea of what the rest were doing. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/78 "2010-07-15T21:46:20Z")
That is really weird. The only tests that were ever performed in the hospitals I worked at were ordered directly by doctors. They would sometimes order things like, “Fasting glucose every AM for a week,” but the hospital doing routine tests because there’s a butt in the bed is just plain odd to me. Not saying it didn’t happen; your US American healthcare system is so bizarre it seems possible to me. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/79 "2010-07-16T19:52:15Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > I suppose if you wandered around your mechanics shop smoking, or played with your plumbers tools and they objected you’d tell them to STFU you work for me? It would be nice if we could custom tailor everyones stay to their specific needs without ever taking any chances with their, or anyone elses health, and without anyone overestimating their abilities, but we can’t. You’ll see in my first post that I went _outside_ for smoke. Not exactly analagous to smoking in a mechanic’s shop. And I didn’t ask to play with the scalpels and bone saws. I didn’t ask anyone to tailor my stay to my specific needs. Although, to some extent, in the case of a hospital stay, that wouldn’t be completely unreasonable. To continue with your mechanic analogy, I might well ask a mechanic to do something out of the ordinary with my suspension, say, to meet a specific need. > [@outlierrn](#): > > Sometimes fasten your safety belt and put your tray in it’s upright position is just part of keeping the whole plane flying even if you don’t see how it applies to you. Unquestionably. And sometimes being told that I can’t call home and let my wife know that I’ve been admitted to a hospital and so won’t be coming home that night is completely unreasonable. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161/80 "2010-07-17T02:17:06Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > To continue with your mechanic analogy, I might well ask a mechanic to do something out of the ordinary with my suspension, say, to meet a specific need. and he might well tell you ‘you can’t have that’. > [@](#): > > And sometimes being told that I can’t call home and let my wife know that I’ve been admitted to a hospital and so won’t be coming home that night is completely unreasonable Unquestionably, of course if you need help with that, you may have to wait until I’m available. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-leave-a-hospital-whenever-i-want-seriously/546161.md?page=5)