Condition Pink 1

Condition Pink
Situation of an infant or child abduction in a hospital

Emily Steele
English 101 Composition
Dr. Greer
June 10, 2014



Condition Pink 2

Condition Pink
Youre in the middle of another 12 hour shift taking care of patients, charting, dispensing
medication, and answering phone calls when suddenly you hear a call over the intercom that
there is a condition pink. What do you do? Where are you supposed to go? What role do you
play in your department? What the heck is a condition pink again? This is why it is important to
plan ahead for situations before they happen, so when a code pink is called you will know
exactly what do to and where to be.
Vigilance and Preparation
One may be wondering what a condition pink is, a condition pink is called in a hospital
when an infant has been abducted. Well then what can be done to prevent an abduction from
happening? The most effective security measures are prevention and vigilance according to the
University Of Illinois Medical Center Of Chicago. All employees should wear proper
identification at all times, for security purposes scrubs and lab coats will be kept in secured areas.
After the birth of the baby, nurses should educate parents and any significant family member(s)
on the security measures of the facility. Parents and infant(s) will need to wear identification
bracelets once the baby is born, they can remove them once they are discharged.
Vigilance is the first defense in place for protecting infants. If Staff observe any
suspicious behavior, they need to report the person(s) in question to the proper personnel. When
situations that involve a high-risk custody case, nurses should monitor the situation and the
charge nurse should be informed in addition be updated periodically. By limiting the
transportation of infants within the hospital to staff only, not permitting an infant to be carried
but transported by wheeled bassinet or incubators helps reduce the risk of abduction. When its
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time for the mother and baby to be discharged a staff member will escort them to the lobby. To
keep the staff prepared on occasion there will be condition pink drills to give staff the chance to
practice their roles during a real situation.
When a Condition Pink is Announced
In case of a suspected missing infant, nurses should search the immediate vicinity and
report to the charge nurse if the infant is not located. Condition pink should be paged over the
intercom if the infant is not located, staff members will secure all exits in the department. Once
the exits are secure, nurses will check that every baby they are assigned to remain present and
accounted for, then report to the charge nurse immediately. Security should be notified and all
exits in the building will be blocked and secured. Leaving the department is restricted, anyone
leaving must be cleared by the charge nurse or wait until the department search has been
completed. Its suggested by the University of Illinois Remember to search in unlikely places
such as closets, beneath beds, behind curtains, in offices, in call rooms, in locker rooms, in
dumpsters, etc. Its important to remember the family during the condition pink, the charge
nurse will move them to a private room and assign a nurse to stay with them. If the infant is not
found within the facility, local health care facilities, the local FBI office, and if needed the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will be contacted and given a description of
the missing infant and the suspected abductor.
Responsibilities of a Charge Nurse
The charge nurse will have a few extra duties they must complete during the condition
pink, they will secure the infants medical records and any blood samples that are available. The
charge nurse should then contact the Director of Patient Care Services, the Administrator, and
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the infants primary care physician. The staff will need to be briefed on the situation and told that
until the police complete their investigation, they will remain on duty. When the condition pink
has been lifted and staff are allowed to go home, the charge nurse will schedule and plan group
debriefings.
When the Condition Pink is Canceled
Once the police have finished their investigation, staff may be relieved and
allowed to go home. In the coming days staff should make themselves available to law
enforcement for any follow-up questioning or paperwork that is needed to continue the
investigation and search of the missing infant. There will be a debriefing led by the charge nurse
for those on duty during the condition pink. During the briefing if staff have any concerns about
how things were handled during the code, they should bring it up and discuss how things could
be done differently.
Without having a strategy laid out before a disaster occurs many things could go wrong,
and people wouldnt know what to do. If nurses and staff stay vigilant, they can prevent an
abduction before it happens. If an infant is abducted, having a plan in place beforehand, there is a
greater chance of locating the missing infant before any harm comes to them. By keeping staff
educated about what to do during a condition pink, there wont be anyone wondering What the
heck is a condition pink?

Condition Pink 5

References
University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago (2002). University of Illinois Medical Center at
Chicago Clinical Care Guidelines, 6-7. Retrieved on June 10, 2014, from
nursing.uchc.edu/hosp_admin_manual/docs/08-078.pdf


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Reflection
1. What is the rhetorical situation (audience, context, purpose) of your essay?
A condition pink is called at a hospital and medical staff need to know what to do in a situation
like this.
2. Has your essay fulfilled the purpose of the assignment? Explain.
Yes, I believe someone reading this essay would have a better understanding of security
measures and plans put in place to protect infants and keep them safe.
3. What do you think are the strengths of this essay?
My researched data and information
4. What problems did you face while writing this essay?
Making my data and information flow through, instead of just being fact after fact.
5. What solutions did you find for those problems?
Reading my sentences out loud and rewriting them many times.
6. What did you learn from this assignment?
The need to plan before a disaster is very important.