![]() ![]() When the mother or infant is admitted, explain to the parents the unit and hospital safety measures.įor instance, the parents need to know that if they want to walk with their infant, he should be in the bassinet and not in a parent's arms. She must also know the policy and procedure for informing the infant's family about a possible abduction.Įducating staff is only part of the equation. #Abduction orlando how toProvide written instructions about how to activate the alarm system and call security. Review your facility's policies and procedures with her and make sure she knows what to do if she suspects that an infant is being abducted. These drills should be repeated as many times as needed to ensure that you and other staff members are comfortable and competent in your roles during an infant abduction.ĭuring orientation, teach each new staff member how to recognize suspicious individuals. Infant safety should be incorporated into annual staff competency assessments, and mock infant abduction drills should be part of staff education. Call a social worker or a chaplain to help support the parents if needed. At least one nurse should remain with the parents. Go to your assigned post and wait for further instructions. If your unit doesn't have an infant alarm system, contact security immediately to secure the perimeter of the building and to send staff to monitor all unit exit doors until security gets to the unit. This should lock all exits from the unit while security personnel search the building and the grounds. If you suspect that an infant has been abducted, activate your unit's infant alarm system immediately. She may also create a diversion (or have an accomplice create one) so that she can escape unnoticed with the infant. The abductor may target a patient room that's far away from the nurses' station or that's near an exit, stairway, or elevator. Anyone carrying an infant in her arms (rather than in a bassinet) or carrying large bags or packages should raise a red flag. A potential abductor may study the unit layout, learn when staff goes into patient rooms, and ask questions about feeding times or nursery location. Staff should learn to be suspicious of anyone who visits the unit repeatedly but isn't visiting a specific patient. Are best-practice guidelines in place and are they being followed? If not, talk with your nurse-manager about how to incorporate them. If you work in a unit that has infants, see Keeping infants safe for critical guidelines to follow, then assess your unit's procedures. In this article, I'll tell you how infant abductions can be prevented when facilities institute best-practice guidelines, teach staff about patient-safety protocols, and educate infants' families. The good news is that most infant abductions are avoidable. ![]() Even so, 116 infants were abducted from hospitals between 19, 2 so staff members in any facility caring for infants must be aware of the threat. Such infant abductions from hospitals are rare (accounting for only 0.5% of all sentinel events reported to The Joint Commission 1), so you may never be involved in this kind of incident. Fortunately, police found the infant and returned her to her parents the next day. ![]() ![]() A WOMAN DISGUISED in scrubs walked out of a hospital in Texas with a baby hidden in her purse last March. ![]()
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