Can I ask the E. R. to keep my aunt who I'm unable to care for?

[Nicholas1302]

My 68 yo aunt who has had trouble walking for a while has gotten much worse. She is basically bed ridden. She drinks too, which makes it worse. I can barely take care of myself, I can't effectively take care of her too. My mom, and I took her to the E. R. a couple of hours ago to get checked out. My mom told me that she's gonna say that she's gonna tell them to keep my aunt, and put her in a nursery home. I thought it sounded cruel, and massed up. Would they really do that?

[SecretsofKB]

Nurse here. So hospitals typically will not discharge a patient to an unsafe environment (and by that I mean they will not discharge someone to a home where they cannot be adequately cared for).

If the patient is unable to care for themself, and their family is unable or unwilling to care for them, social workers from the hospital can begin to work on placement after discharge. This can be a whole headache of a process and is best discussed with the hospital's social workers instead of me trying to half-ass explain it here.

It sounds like your aunt is unable to care for herself at baseline and most likely would require placement at a nursing home. And this of course also depends on if the patient is able to make their own decisions.

So my suggestion is to tell the nurse and/or doctor you would like to talk to the social workers about placement.

[EmmaMary]

REPORTED...DUPLICATE.

Is it wrong that my mom, and I took my aunt to the emergency room, because she can't walk?

[Clear_Skies10]

SHE ISN'T EVEN YOUR AUNT!

You aren't blood related. If there's any chance that she can go to a place where they can take care of her properly, that's what should happen. You can always go visit her as a friend.

[WhitneySnow]

That’s up to your aunt, but I’m pretty sure you and your mom have the right to tell her she can’t live with you anymore if that’s what you want. What she does then is up to her.

[seeyounexttuesday]

That's not the role of an ER.