Total Disregard for Visiting Hours

[DYLANB]

Just curious to hear about other nurses experiences with the total disregard patient families have for visiting hours and hosptial policies. I have been a nurse now for 3 years and have split time between ICU and CVICU. Patient families skirt the rules all of the time and get away with it. Moreover, nurses I know have been reprimanded for inforcing policies set forth by the hospital after family memebrs complain to administration. I understand that since I work in critical care that that patient acuity is high and family memebrs are worried about the patients well being but, how are we as nurses expect to perform our jobs at the highest level if we can't care for the patient because 100 family memebrs wont stop asking the same questions over and over or crowd the room to the point we can't even see the patient? I sometimes feel that rules people normally follow in far less important situations go out the window when they eneter a hospital. You don't go behind the counter at McDonalds and watch them cook your hamburger or stand over the cashiers shoulder while they process your transaction. Why is this behavior allowed in the hospital setting?

[duskyjewel]

If my husband were seriously ill or injured enough to be hospitalized, you would pry his bed rail out of my cold, dead fingers. Having worked in a hospital, I know too much to NOT watch like a hawk.

[Hygiene Queen]

If my husband were seriously ill or injured enough to be hospitalized, you would pry his bed rail out of my cold, dead fingers. Having worked in a hospital, I know too much to NOT watch like a hawk.

Considering we all know what mistakes can possibly happen, I think most would agree with you, but at least we would (hopefully) not be disruptive to the staff trying to give care.

But if you are going to keep jumping up and piping in about every little thing, then that is going to make people frazzled and that's not going to help anyone provide good care.

[IdrilRN, BSN, RN]

I cannot stand obnoxious visitors!

I work in psych and I am very grateful that:

We have limited visiting hours.

If the family wants more time-- or a different time, they need a decent reason and a doctor's order.

If it is an elderly gentleman who has trouble getting a ride during regular hours, the doctor is more than happy to write the order, and we are happy to let the gent visit his wife in "off-hours".

However, if you are just a complete wanker who is physically intact, obnoxious and/or intrusive, and the only reason you want special off-hours is because you think you just need to "hang out" or "keep an eye on things", then heck no!

I will call the psychiatrist, I will present your request, we will talk about it... and then we will laugh at you.

We can kick people out.

I have no problem kicking people out-- never have, never will.

I have never heard tell about any nurse, tech, counselor, etc. ever being reprimanded for being firm and no-nonsense.

We will kick you out, discuss your outrageous behavior... and then we will laugh at you.

I do not think I could ever work in another field.

While we are very polite and professional, we can (and are expected to) set limits and enforce those limits.

There is no sugar-coating.

If you are intrusive, loud, aggressive, insulting, snooping, trying to have sex , etc. etc.... we will kick you out.

Oh, yeah... and laugh at you.

And I still want to plant land mines all along the parameter of the nurse's station, because that's where the biggest offenders like to congregate.

I'm sorry that you other folks can't do what we can, because once we remove the riff-raff, it is actually quite pleasant to be left with quiet and respectful visitors that actually lend something to the therapeutic side of things.

Oh yes. 6p-8p M-F and 2-4 and 6-8 on weekends.

And even better if the pt is on any type of detox protocol. They get no visits unless it is "therapeutic" And even then requires an md order and supervision with the social worker.

But a sad point to psyche, is some if not most of my unit gets no visitors. ?

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

If my husband were seriously ill or injured enough to be hospitalized, you would pry his bed rail out of my cold, dead fingers. Having worked in a hospital, I know too much to NOT watch like a hawk.

I agree, BUT I would be a help not a hindrance and I would never expect the nurse to get or bring me anything and I would certainly limit other family members to keep things quite and not cause problems on the unit or for the staff. I would bring the nurse a decent cup of coffee rather than expect them to get me one!

[TJ'sMOM]

What about the obnoxious family members with a pen and paper who write down EVERYTHING the staff does; hoping for a mistake, so they are able to sue the hospital?

[Andy Droid]

What about the obnoxious family members with a pen and paper who write down EVERYTHING the staff does; hoping for a mistake so they are able to sue the hospital?[/quote']

When my Mom was in the hospital (in and out for several days at a time over a few months), my sister took notes.

Long story short, it was an emotional time, and she knew she wouldn't remember what was going on without them, and every new person to come in seemed to ask her what had been done, and what my Mom was on rather than read the chart.

You don't go behind the counter at McDonalds and watch them cook your hamburger or stand over the cashiers shoulder while they process your transaction. Why is this behavior allowed in the hospital setting?

Uh.... I kinda do watch cashiers pretty close. (especially when I'm buying a lot of items.... I've caught the scanner double-entering items a few times)

[musingmom]

Twenty years ago, a registry nurse, in the middle of the night, under the influence, emptied a bag of antibiotics into my mother's IV, wide open, over about 3 minutes (no pumps then). No family was with her. The next morning the hospital administration was in her room asking if we had retained an attorney yet. We did not sue, after verifying the nurse lost her license.

Because of that experience, NO ONE in my family ever spends the night in a hospital, alone. Ever. We try to be respectful. We make sure only one of us is there overnight. We leave the room if asked by a practitioner, and the patient is comfortable with it. We're not there to prevent errors, or be difficult, we're there as advocates. Its really hard to advocate effectively for yourself when you are on narcotic pain meds, for example.

Obnoxious people, whether they are visitors, patients or practitioners are frustrating regardless of the context. So certainly some of the examples of visitors' behavior in this thread are over the line. But I respectfully disagree with the attitude that people should just stay out of the way when their loved one is hospitalized so that your job is easier. Like most things, generalizations are unwise.

[Paul'in'FL]

Sad but true...forget appropriate medical or nursing CARE, it is the blankets and turkey sammiches that change P-G scores. Sort of like buying or rating a car on its color, rather than safety or mileage.

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

It is called press ganey. Press ganey rules the hospital world and takes precedence over all else. When my diabetic patient demands a second helping of chocolate cake I make an elaborate note that patient was educated in "all things diabetic" and still stated "give me my damn cake", I might even just call the doc and let him know. But in the end the patient gets the cake and we take the beating.

[nurse_love]

Well get ready for open visitation if you don't have it already, because that is what it's coming to. Accrediting bodies like DNV and Joint commission are starting to try to regulate that critical care units have open visitation because the patient deserves the right to a family member to advocate for them 24/7. It's up to the hospitals and unit to set forth guidelines to keep the camp outs, picnics, and other crazy stuff out of the patient's room. Do you really want to eat in Grandma's C-diff and MRSA infested room? Do you really think it's a great idea to bring the 2 month old in and lay on her grandpa, who is sick and has contracted who knows what infections? Come on people! We need to educate our families to make smart decisions, and provide them with simple guidelines. I am in the common sense business here.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

I don't have a problem with family members being with their loved ones 24 hours if they want, as long as they sort of stay in the wings when the nurses are performing their work (meaning they are not interrupting the nurse or CA, does not mean they have to leave the room). This has been the case where I work and it has not been an issue. I personally know the importance of that. When my mom was in the ICU years ago, I was clueless to the fact that she was close to dying. Had I known that I would have stayed with her through the end. I would never deny a family member this opportunity if I can help it. My patient's family members have been very understanding when I need room or privacy to work with the patient. It's mostly all about how you come across too.

[Wet Noodle]

In some very understaffed med/surg wards, it's not safe (much less, comfortable) for a patient to be on her own. I spent weeks in two different hospitals in Boston, I was fine on my own, though I had no physicial limitiations other than temporary ones as a result of surgery. On the other hand, over the course of a few year, my parents spent weeks in hospitals in Miami, and they would have been in trouble on their own, especially my legally blind mother. When my mother was in the hospital, my father would spend the night each night. He was unbtruive and nothing but helpful, relieving the staff from tasks such as helping with feeding, filling the water pitcher, etc.

In poorer countries, it is expected that a family member will stay with a patient, and feed him, change the sheets, etc. There are no nurse's aids. In some parts of the U.S., hospitals have evolved in that direction.

Considering that we spend double per capita on healthcare of most of the rest of the industrialized world, it's sad that some of our hospitals are evolving toward those of poor Caribbean nations.