Total Disregard for Visiting Hours

Nurses Relations

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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?

I perform all of my nursing tasks so much better when I do not have an "audience of family members" watching every move I make.

I can concentrate so much better on the nursing task that I need to perform and therefore, I do a much better job that way. I think it increases my chances of making a mistake if I am nervous and uncomfortable performing for an audience.

Frankly, anyone who says they enjoy being watched like a hawk by family members while providing care, well, I'd say that's a lie.

Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
What does this have to do with the topic?

I know, right? I was unaware that this was Linked In and I have to carry on as a professional with my name and resume attached. It's like being on one of those "vent threads" and someone new to the forum comes along with all of their righteous indignation about how meaaaaaan we all are and any of us who have any remotely inartfully worded statement expressing frustration with our jobs, patients, visitors, etc "don't DESERVE to be nurses!"

I really must have peed in your Cheerios. You don't seem to be able to resist trying to trash every little thing that I say.

Get over it. I'm not here to meet with your approval, dear.

Well sweetie, this is not a peeing contest..into the cheerios or elsewhere.

A hard nosed approach to nursing the patient... or supporting family/visitors is not quality care.

The response was meant to enlighten everyone on the CMS guidelines regarding reimbursement, related to customer satisfaction.

HCAHPS.. read all about it! I work in several large metropolitan facilities. Answering the CMS reimbursement requirements is a major focus for all of them.

How about the visitor/family members who refuses to leave the room while care is being provided? I recall working at an LTC facility and the son and daughter would visit mom in her room. When the staff needed to get mom up and dressed or changed even after being asking nicely the son mostly would refuse to leave the room. And if other family were there it was the same. The staff had no room to move the lift around past family and they family became irate when asked to move a wee bit.

As charge nurse I had to intervene when the bedside staff came begging for help. When I went to the room and directed the son and family to please leave the room while staff got mom changed and dressed the son lost it. He ranted on about the fact that it was his mother and he needed to be in the room to make sure the staff transferred and changed mom properly. He was again asked to leave the room as staff could not even get at mom to use the lift to get her up. It was only after a direct but polite ORDER from me to get out of the room while mom was near naked on the bed the he and the rest of the family left for the requested 5 minutes. The son then told me that he was going to report me to management and call the police on me. (Not sure what the cops would have done.) I invited him to report away. Then I documented his stupidity and rudeness in detail.

Management simply told me it was good charting and I never did see the police arrive.

Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
Well sweetie, this is not a peeing contest..into the cheerios or elsewhere.

A hard nosed approach to nursing the patient... or supporting family/visitors is not quality care.

The response was meant to enlighten everyone on the CMS guidelines regarding reimbursement, related to customer satisfaction.

HCAHPS.. read all about it! I work in several large metropolitan facilities. Answering the CMS reimbursement requirements is a major focus for all of them.

And catering to patients' visitors' war stories isn't in there anywhere.

Apparently you enjoy condemning other nurses in person as well as online, because you're actually suggesting that acting all doe eyed about some schmoe who wants to tell you all about some other horrible nurse putting a "big bruise" on their arm is "quality care." It's not. Telling them it's an expected possible "side effect" of an IV start attempt and their nurse didn't do anything wrong is called teaching. And someone who's more interested in going into great lengthy detail about their own hospitalization 10 years ago than their sister, mother, daughter, uncle who is acutely ill or even DYING next to them isn't my PRIORITY (you do know about priorities). I'd rather focus on my patient, thanks. I'm not going to go into further detail with you, because we already know a) it doesn't matter, b) you can't be convinced that you actually DON'T know everything and c) your judgment is skewed.

My hospitals has 24 hour visiting even ICUs !!!!! although if pt is in semi probate room it is discouraged. not only do we deal with pts complain of being woken up for vitals or antibiotics but so do their visitors!!!! lol

Probate.. Freudian slip?

I understand full well we are not McDonald's but, if you look at health care trends we are heading in that direction. ie core measures, satisfaction based reimbursement by medicare. We are heading towards prepackaged healthcare for everyone. I don't think this is all bad but that's for another thread. The point I was trying to make is that some patient families are overbearing, rude, disrespectful and demanding. I stated in my first post that I am sympathetic with the families that want to be with patients in their time of crisis. I understand the family centered care modality. But I won't and shouldn't have to tolerate abuse. Simply stating.. " I need everyone to step out now".. or... "please direct your questions to the designated spokesperson" will NOT resolve ALL nursing concerns. Trust me, I have been there, done that.

Interesting that you have used my user name at the end of your response!

Your initial post did not indicate you were "tolerating abuse". That is another thread altogether.How did you feel the family members abused you?

It isn't just the sheer number but also the quality of many visitors. In some facilities it's not safe to leave anything that isn't bolted down out in open. Other patient's, their visitors, staff, etc... all report things going missing. Everything from handbags, wallets, items in bedside tables, supplies, etc suddenly start developing legs.

You find these visitors all places where they aren't wanted nor supposed to be; other patient's rooms, standing around a code or *action* because it's like what they've seen on television, wondering around kitchen/supply areas and often helping themselves to whatever strikes their fancy.

The rot started when patients became "customers/clients" and hospitals began advertising themselves more like hotels than healthcare facilities. First place to really hit was L&D and maternity. Where once you had mother, father and maybe grandparents you now have the entire *Barone family* (everybody Loves Raymond) complete with all the antics that go with them.

Everytime a nurse or other healthcare worker makes the news because of abuse or other harm to a patient you can be sure the *family* will be there for every patient now eyeballing the nurse's every move. You start to give a medication or treatment and they ask "what is that?"; and you're like " even if I told you would you even know what it was"?

Specializes in ICU.
And what if you do speak up and the family complains to mgmt., and mgmt. then disciplines you? What's your solution for that...get another job? It's really easy to tell people to just "deal," but some hospitals allow visitation to get out of control. If it's a semi-private room, who's going to advocate for the poor pt who can't get rest because there are family members of the other pt there day and night?

I have been in the hosp., and not for just minor stuff, either. It never occurred to me to have my family by my bedside 24/7.

You never took an introductory COMM class? Ordering family out of the room? yeah, that'll get you in trouble. Asking them to please step out for one moment while you do cares, etc won't get you disciplined. It's all in how you ask: respectfully and tactfully.

Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
The rot started when patients became "customers/clients" and hospitals began advertising themselves more like hotels than healthcare facilities.

Agreed. "The customer is always right" simply doesn't work in healthcare. They're NOT right, or they might not be in the hospital in the first place. As someone else said, God forbid you tell them anything akin to (OH and don't quote me - tired of being accused of trashing my hospital's entire compensation structure with my poor attitude on here) "you really shouldn't have another 4 milks and 5 packs of graham crackers, you're on a diabetic diet." That's just bad customer service! So now you have to give them the food and chart that you told them they shouldn't have the food but they ate it anyway!

You start to give a medication or treatment and they ask "what is that?"; and you're like " even if I told you would you even know what it was"?

Yeah seriously...do you think I'm trying to poison Gammy? lol But as for them knowing, yes some of them would know, because they fill the meds, they give the meds etc., and our pill shapes and colors don't always look like what's taken at home. And people come from all walks of life and you can't always tell how much they know by looking at them. I like to name the med, then the broad type of med like PPI, diuretic, ACE inhibitor, then get more layperson as I go along until they indicate that they're satisfied with your explanation. If the patient is AOX4 though, my explanations are going to be pretty basic, since they probably know what they're taking and I don't really need to explain every pill to a visitor in the room unless the patient wants me to. OH if we are talking IV stuff though, I ALWAYS tell them what's being hung or pushed and what it's for. Having stuff put in your veins is very scary to most patients and family.

and when that doesn't work? when the roomie is going to complain if the visitors don't get the heck out?

You never took an introductory COMM class? Ordering family out of the room? yeah, that'll get you in trouble. Asking them to please step out for one moment while you do cares, etc won't get you disciplined. It's all in how you ask: respectfully and tactfully.
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