Correct, in the US nurses/doctors/hospitals cannot prevent you from leaving AMA, as it should be. If you are presenting as possibly being harmful to yourself however, you might be put on a mental health hold for psychiatric assessment and care. People walk out of hospitals all the time, as they should be able to.
If there are concerns about the child or her ability to care for it - I worked in CPS for years and there was no way we would have put a baby in foster care simply because the mother wanted to take a taxi home from the hospital alone. Nobody from the hospital was going to care if she went home Monday with her sister and took a taxi Tuesday. And typically, with abdominal surgery, they aren’t discharging you in a timeframe that the anesthesia might be still affecting you.
And please don’t tell me how concerned hospital staff are about their patients - I had too many experiences while i was in CPS to believe that’s always true. It happened almost 30 years ago but I’ll never forget one case - the mother had three children ( a set of twins and a singleton). Both twins were disabled, one badly enough to have been in a rehab center her whole life. That twin was nearly ready to go home- they called CPS because mom “refused” to learn how to take care of her. Mom did no such thing - the hospital wanted to schedule her training at it’s convenience without taking her other two kids into account- she needed to put the other two children on the school bus in the morning and be back when it returned. Wouldn’t do a simple thing like schedule the training for her husband’s day off - until they were told CPS is not putting a hold on this child. If they were really concerned about the kid, they would have done it sooner, rather than trying to get CPS involved to 1) get the extended time in rehab paid for and 2) to discharge the kid to foster care without changing the hospital staff’s schedule.
In my experience of one birth, it wouldn’t be leaving in a taxi that would be a problem, but leaving in a taxi without a proper rear-facing infant car seat that would be a problem. There were two of us (plus baby) so support wasn’t an issue, but every person we talked to on checkout day asked about a car seat. “Do you have a car seat?” “If somebody is picking you up they need a car seat.” “If you don’t have a car seat we can help you.” “Do you have a…oh I see you’ve already got the baby in the carrier, is the base installed in your car?”
Yes, and some insurance companies will then refuse to cover the visit if you do so, so it could have some pretty serious financial repercussions.
That’s come up before - I recall a poster with experience said that’s not actually true (although medical staff may believe is ) and there are studies and articles that essentially say insurance pays for medically necessary services no matter what the patient does after receiving the service. Just like they pay for your doctor’s visit even if you never have the Xray the doctor recommends
Er… I used to work in the medical insurance industry. Things might have changed since then, but that certainly was true at one time.
This article is a couple of years old, but it states that leaving against medical advice does not affect insurance coverage.
Admittedly, I did not read all of the replies but I do have a few suggestions.
I do not know about all recruiters, but when my cousin was a recruiter for The USMC, he had at least three folks that he supplied this service for. Only one of them was even remotely related to The Corps. He liked to do this as it gave him a chance to talk to folks that he would not normally get to become acquainted with.
Another option is clergy. Many of them will not discuss religion if the “client” just does not want to hear it. Some churches have “laymen” both male & female that provide this kind of service. Again no preaching if it is not wanted.
I work with a few “service” groups that will also provide this service unofficially. One of them was/is the Civil Air Patrol. If asked, one of the leaders would “work it out”, a few times I was part of the solution. I had fun and so did the “client”. Heck if you lived near me, with appropriate notice, I could help you out.
My dad was a Mason. Somebody from the lodge would have helped out if necessary. Are there any similar groups of women?
I live in an apartment complex. I’m on at least amicable speaking terms with a few neighboring tenants. Some of us have mutual agreements to drive one another to/from medical facilities if necessary. I have been on both ends of that a few times. When I tripped and fractured a shoulder blade a couple years ago, I called a neighbor at 3 in the morning to take me to the hospital, which he did and waited 5 hours for me to get out. I’ve also driven him to appointments 40 miles away a few times.
Uh-huh.
Things change over time. You say that article is “a couple years old” but I worked in the industry a couple decades ago.
Which means, of course, my memories are fuzzy but I do recall quite a few policy provisions that, these days, are forbidden/illegal but at the time were allowed.
But I wasn’t posting about the US, and never said I was. I was very clear that I was talking about the UK, so I’m not sure how you’re fighting ignorance here.
I can’t find a specific law about it, probably because there isn’t one that’s this exact, but it certainly was the practice when I had my daughter and when my ex-step-daughter was born - the latter was only four years ago.
All you need is someone to accompany you from the ward to home. That is not an onerous request. If you can’t muster up one friend who will do that minor task for you, then it’s a flag for potential issues with there not being enough support for mother and child. I’m really struggling to think of any parent I know who couldn’t get a single person of their acquaintance to help them with that, and I’ve known people who’ve given birth in very far from ideal circumstances.
This year might be different due to covid restrictions in hospitals, of course.
I had a stroke in Sept, 2016. After I returned home I was contacted by a State sponsored agency who assigned me a case worker to get me settled and stuff. She put me in contact with a faith based (not particularly my Faith) volunteer group that provided free transportation to and from my out patient therapy sessions (2x a week), doctors’ appointments, grocery shopping (every 2 weeks). I can drive myself and get around much better now but when I go in for a procedure where I get “Twilight” anesthesia (used to be every 3 months, now every 6) they will transport me there and back. And to the optometrist when I get my eyes dilated.
See if your Dr’s practice has a case worker or can put you in touch with one. They might be able to help you get the transportation you need.
I have not heard that. I called the GI department where I’m scheduled for a colonoscopy in 7 weeks time to get some clarification. They said, I could get there with rideshare or take a bus but had to have someone else take me home after the procedure; they could arrive when I was ready to go home and did NOT have to stay there for the duration of the procedure.
Yeah, same here. Especially since Covid - they don’t want people hanging around spreading germs.
The clinic I used for my recent colonoscopy had a person who they trusted to give rides after the procedure. He was a former patient and in fact had been a driver for a black car service at one point. He only wanted $25 so that’s how I got home from it. (I took an Uber to the clinic.)
What a great idea!
I’m actually surprised they could do that, though. It seems there would be some degree of potential liability.
Perhaps he was given instructions what to look for, in terms of having a poor reaction to the anesthesia or to the procedure? If so, he’s probably more qualified than the random family member or friend one might use for a ride home.
Oh, I don’t doubt he is better qualified, but that wouldn’t stop someone from suing if anything went wrong, as he was being promoted as an quasi - “agent” of the clinic.
That said, I sure wish my clinic offered that service.