Several days after her elderly mother had surgery her adult daughter came to the hospital and insisted her mother be transferred immediately to another hospital.  The daughter had become upset when she was told over the phone that her mother was given Haldol after the mother removed her oxygen.  When the daughter came to the room and started removing the patient’s IV line a nurse confronted her and advised her that was not appropriate.

    Once the hospital security personnel told the daughter to leave, and she refused to leave or returned after being told to leave, she was a trespasser.  She legally could be treated as a trespasser and did not have to be treated as a person invited to the premises for business purposes.  The hospital was not liable for false imprisonment because the hospital’s nurses and security personnel did not detain the daughter or prevent her from leaving of her own free will or otherwise interfere with her personal liberty.  The hospital’s employees simply reported to the police that the daughter was trespassing.  It was the police who arrested the daughter, with probable cause to believe she was committing a criminal trespass.  Hospital personnel did not assist the police or participate in arresting her. McCormick v. Hospital, 2016 WL 6804524 (E.D. Mich., November 17, 2016).

Additional references from nursinglaw.com

http://www.nursinglaw.com/abuse-patient.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/alcohol-withdrawal-disability-discrimination.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/suicidal-mental-health-commitment.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/search-patient-property.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/arrest-warrant-patient.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/psychiatric-hold-nurse-negligence.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/mental-health-custody-control.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/hostage-drill-nursing-home.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/excessive-force-police-nurse.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/forced-catheterization.htm

http://www.nursinglaw.com/emergency-department-nurse.htm