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Abraham wrote:sailor2000,

Do you also ask if they have large, sharp kitchen knives, hammers, axes, screwdrivers, etc.?

Color me skeptical regarding the need to know about firearms...

I said we DON"T routinely ask.

talltex wrote:

sailor2000 wrote: Who is going to make that decision, and on what criteria? It can't simply be something like anyone over a certain age, or anyone receiving home health care, must not have access to guns/knives/bats, etc... If someone flips out, even a vase or coffee mug becomes a viable weapon...so what "appropriate actions" do you recommend?

A press release by the American Nurses Association noted that recent studies report that the non-fatal violence injury rate for nurses is considerably higher than for law enforcement personnel. In a study sponsored by ANA, more than 30% of the nurses in seven state nurses associations who responded to the survey reported having been victims of workplace violence in the previous year.

When a possible hazard exists we consult with the patient's physician, family, caregivers and when required to do so with Adult Protective Services and the Police Department, depending on the circumstances. There are circumstances in which we are required by law to involve the 'authorities'. We have a duty not only to the patient but to our staff to mitigate known hazards.

Nowhere did I propose or advocate that broad classes of people should be disarmed.

I hope that not even the staunchest defender of a persons right to keep and bear arms really wants a person with severe dementia, paranoia or who is having medication induced hallucinations or impaired judgment to have access to a firearm. (Or a kitchen knife, hammer or other weapon for that matter.) This is not an easy subject and that is why we are doing a special program on it.

My wife and I own a Home Health Agency. We have no requirement that our staff ask patients about weapons. There is a standard set of data we are required to collect and send to Medicare on every patient. That data set does not include any weapons questions.

That said, my wife, when she was still actually making home visits herself has been threatened with a butcher knife by a woman who had dementia. There was a case not too long ago of a Home Health Nurse going into a patients home in Houston and the patient fatally shooting her. Nurses and other staff have been shot, stabbed and otherwise assaulted by patients or patients family members. Many patients or their family members have psychiatric problems, diminished mental function, may be having medication interactions that affect their judgment, be severely depressed or have other issues that make them potentially dangerous. We coach our staff to be aware of their situation in the patient's home and to report any potential hazards up the management chain so appropriate actions can be taken.

We are working on addressing the issue of guns and aging in an upcoming program on The Senior Answer Radio Program, a program dedicated to serving the senior community and their caregivers. We are in discussion with the Houston Police Department Mental Health Division and others about participating in that program topic and hope to get it to air in the next 4 to 6 weeks. It is a tough issue but it is just a fact that there are people who have had health challenges that make it unsafe for them to have access to weapons. Sometimes it really is appropriate for medical personnel to ask about weapons accessibility. It isn't a conspiracy, it is about safety.