It seriously makes me twitch when babies are in any hospital room besides the one where they are born. Especially tiny infants! Do people not understand that the hospital is full of sick people, some with MDROs that could kill that baby in an instant?!
When I see they're just visiting, I'll grit my teeth and wait until they leave. If the visit gets too long, or they and their parent try to spend the night with the pt (yes this happens to me a lot), I tell them they can't stay. Invariably they have no ride home by that time (I'm night shift) but I tell them after tomorrow, no more baby, and I explain why.
Some understand. Others whine that it makes Grammy feel soooooo good to see the wittle angel!! Sheesh. Does Grammy really wish her wittle angel harm?
Or they grab to equipment cleaning cloths, despite the large logo with a red slash/circle over the picture of the baby and the large warning "not for use on humans", because obviously any round plastic popup container is just baby wipes. Invariably, someone leaves one in a room despite knowing better.
One family was wiping the kid's face with it and letting him play with another one. I zoomed over, picked up the kid and promptly started rinsing his face off in the sink, while saying "these aren't for people!". Grandma in the bed is going I told you so! while dad is just looking sheepish. Better believe I check all the corners of my rooms and cabinets for those things anymore.
I still remember in nursing school when I was doing a rotation in a med/surg unit. The patient's infant grandchild was allowed to sit on the patient's lap and even lay in the bed on the chux. The patient had active c. diff!! And was not wearing undies and had just sat on that chux after going to the bathroom. I told the patient it was not wise to have the baby there at all, and she didn't seem bothered. I then hinted strong about babies catching things in the hospital and the patient was sick (they all knew she had diarrhea) but could not come right out and say the patient had c. diff because of privacy. I am assuming the baby survived. I hope so.
Specializes in Med-Surg and Ambulatory Care (multispecialty).
I floated to a different unit than my own this week & walked into the room of a patient with C. diff who had her family in visiting. No isolation protection on any of them, sitting on her bed and one relative was sitting right next to the bed breastfeeding a newborn. I have no problem with family visiting or children & infants but if you know your loved one has C. diff you have to be at least a little careful. Tried to very politely talk to them and they basically just shut me down & ignored what I was saying.
Totally get the OP's sentiment. In the NICU we feel our patients are generally immunocompromised, so we get real touchy about who visits and evict or slap masks on any sniffly visitor, and absolutely no visitors under 13 unless a sibling, then they must be 3.
Imagine my horror walking in on a family that was in an individual room getting ready for DC and finding a "giant" (ok, average for 12 month old) crawling around on the floor. Eeeekkk!!
Me: "Who is this child? They need to leave now!" Me thinking: "OMG, germy toddler contaminating my room! Where're the disinfecting wipes? Does this incident qualify to get the ultrasonic room disinfection in here?" Too much?
I work in the ED so I regularly have those "seriously?!" moments with people bringing infants in for minor complaints or toting their tiny babies along with them for non-emergent issues. I am also guilty of asking my sister to bring my 13 month old nephew to visit me on bad nights as a pick me up though so He doesn't sit in the lobby though, he comes straight back and spends his time in the ED in the nurses station getting cooed over and playing with auntie.
My Dad's grandfather used to say that a child has to "eat a pound of dirt before he's grown" because it helps make the immune system stronger. While I agree w/ that sentiment in a general sense, hospitals are definitely excluded!
Like VivaLasViejas, I also leave the shoes in the garage and then go straight to the laundry room to strip off my scrubs and deposit them in their "scrubs only" laundry basket where they wait until they are washed in their own hot water, extra rinse load.
My husband and I joke that we should install a decon station at the back door.
Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.
When I was doing capstone, there was a pt that was sick and her sorry butt kids brought their kids and left them for "granny" to watch. In the hospital!!!! She couldn't get out of bed and the kids were everywhere. We had to track down the parents to come get the kids. We were all flabbergasted.
Or they grab to equipment cleaning cloths, despite the large logo with a red slash/circle over the picture of the baby and the large warning "not for use on humans", because obviously any round plastic popup container is just baby wipes. Invariably, someone leaves one in a room despite knowing better.
One family was wiping the kid's face with it and letting him play with another one. I zoomed over, picked up the kid and promptly started rinsing his face off in the sink, while saying "these aren't for people!". Grandma in the bed is going I told you so! while dad is just looking sheepish. Better believe I check all the corners of my rooms and cabinets for those things anymore.
Well, if they're going to be crawling all over the floor in a hospital, maybe it's a good idea to Cavi-wipe the baby.
I could never take a baby/toddler or even one of my pets to a hospital or nursing home, too nasty.
I cringed when people brought in pets, not because the pet might be dirty, but because of the filth on the floor getting on their paws. Yet, I'd let a baby/toddler run around all day on the farm LOL (I myself used to sneak away and go play in the calf pen). I never, ever ate while on the floor in the nh, but yet I'd take a break while cleaning the barn to have a sandwhich, and not always wash my hands! Once I dropped a brand new $15 water bottle on the floor at work, I threw that now-contaminated thing right out, but if I did that at home in the barn, I'd just rinse it off under the hydrant and refill it!
FWIW I used to change out of my scrubs (removing them inside-out, even) and when I got out to my vehicle, I'd change my shoes, depositing said nursing shoes into a foil turkey pan or re-purposed cat-litter pan I kept in the trunk specifically for that purpose LOL I also used to cavi-wipe my shoes a few times a week (hey every little bit helps). In all the years of working as a nurse, my shoes were either in that pan (even throughout the winter) or on my feet. I have never worn nursing shoes while driving to or from work. I know of other nurse and docs who did the same. Heck, I even had a specific winter coat and gloves for work, and they were kept in the cellar when I wasn't wearing them, and washed a few times each season.
I know germage is everywhere, but I just didn't like the idea of going home in all that nh filth, even though we all get a small dose of it in every-day life. It just was so much more concentrated there, and not enough staff nor time to keep things as clean as they should really be in such facilities.
When I was doing capstone, there was a pt that was sick and her sorry butt kids brought their kids and left them for "granny" to watch. In the hospital!!!! She couldn't get out of bed and the kids were everywhere. We had to track down the parents to come get the kids. We were all flabbergasted.
Had this happen to. Mom dropped the kids off with Grandma at the hospital while she went to work. the kids were running around, the Grandma's roommate is screaming at us. The assistant manager finally got a hold of the daughter and told her grandma can not babysit while she is in the hospital.
Had this happen to. Mom dropped the kids off with Grandma at the hospital while she went to work. the kids were running around, the Grandma's roommate is screaming at us. The assistant manager finally got a hold of the daughter and told her grandma can not babysit while she is in the hospital.
I had a situation with a teenaged patient who decided to have a sleepover at the hospital. She had three or four teenaged friends with her and no parents. They were making all kinds of noises laughing and having a great time. I had to track down the mom of the patient and ask her to drive there and take these girls home. It was after midnight. Talk about party pooper.
He doesn't sit in the lobby though, he comes straight back and spends his time in the ED in the nurses station getting cooed over and playing with auntie.
JBudd, MSN
3,836 Posts
Or they grab to equipment cleaning cloths, despite the large logo with a red slash/circle over the picture of the baby and the large warning "not for use on humans", because obviously any round plastic popup container is just baby wipes. Invariably, someone leaves one in a room despite knowing better.
One family was wiping the kid's face with it and letting him play with another one. I zoomed over, picked up the kid and promptly started rinsing his face off in the sink, while saying "these aren't for people!". Grandma in the bed is going I told you so! while dad is just looking sheepish. Better believe I check all the corners of my rooms and cabinets for those things anymore.