In the emergency room the patient was diagnosed with impaired mental state, speech and language difficulty, paranoid personality and Dilantin toxicity.  He was transferred to the same hospital’s behavioral health unit for inpatient admission.  When he was admitted to the behavioral health unit his nurse apparently did not search his belongings.

  The next day when a nurse realized the patient had a gun the police were called.  A confrontation ensued in which the police fatally shot the patient.

  His sister as probate administrator sued the hospital for negligence.  The lawsuit claimed the nurse who admitted him to behavioral health should have searched his belongings.  During the search the nurse would have found the gun and confiscated it peaceably and thereby prevented the fatal police incident, it was alleged.  The Appellate Court of Illinois ruled the hospital was not entitled to a summary judgment of no liability.  The nurse was negligent not to search the patient’s belongings.  A jury will decide if that was the cause of his death. Coleman v. Hospital, __ N.E. 3d __, 2018 WL 2191661 (Ill. App., May 14, 2018).

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/excessive-force-police-nurse.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/hospital-family-belligerent.htm

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

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