Complete and total disregard for Visiting Hours! (vent)

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Ok - Does any else have this problem? Visitors who think that visiting hours don't apply to them! They seem to think that when the announcement is made that visiting hours are over, it doesn't apply to them!

This is what happened tonight that has gotten me so steamed up!

I noticed at 2200 there was still a visitor in one of the rooms. (visiting hours ended at 2030). I mentioned it to a collegue. She said Yeah - I've told him to go and so did Jane. So, as I was "in charge" I went in and said politely, "Visiting hours ended at 8:30 - you have to leave now". He said "I am the husband, I am staying". I said "No, you are not. You have to leave now. You may have 5 minutes to say goodbye".

I notice that the roommate is looking upset about his continued presence. (note pt is here for rehab, is 1 week + postop fracture femur). Visitor says "No, I am staying". I told him if he did not leave in 5 minutes I would call security. He said he was staying because he was "the husband". I reiterated - "5 minutes, then I call security." I list reasons he cannot stay, (roommate, not req'd, etc etc) And left the room. He comes up to nsg station, says he is going and wants my name. I gave it, said I was in charge. He said he wanted to stay. I said No. He left.

As he was leaving, 2 more visitors for this same lady come in! :nono: I say - visiting hours over! Visitors hold up special food they brought in. I said "Fine - 2 minutes, then out. From now on - please respect visiting hours". Finally they all leave!

I go to check on roommate - she is all upset, stated she thought was so scared he was going to stay all night. (COPD pt, does not need this type of anxiety). I reassure her and tell her we will make sure he does not stay.

He'll probably report me tomorrow - fortunately, 2 nurses in nsg station say they have my back - I was polite, professional, etc etc.

But OH! These people just make me so mad!:angryfire

Sorry - this is longer than I intended, but dang, I feel better now!

We don't have visiting hours outside of ICU. All rooms are private. Unless visitors are being disruptive they may come and go. CVICU has specified visiting hours. All other ICUs have open visitation that is regulated by the nursing staff (units are cleared out for report).

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Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

I feel strongly about this. Unless the patient is dying, the room is private, or the patient is under-age, no one should be overnighting. I've been a patient in a hospital, and received private care while in a room with another patient and their WHOLE friggin' family. It is absolutely inappropriate. Want to discuss your personal medical-social issues, while half naked in a hospital gown... with a social hour going on right behind the curtain? And it is not up to the roommate to request the removal of visitors after hours.

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Specializes in nursery, L and D.

My sis broke her tib/fib last year and had to have a ORIF. She was in extreme pain afterward and I had to throw a freakin' fit to get the doc in there to eval (jerk doc, nurses were OK). He wanted to do po percs and she needed IV diluadid. He finally called the hospitalist in to "deal" with it. Thank goodness, I had actually suggested a epidural, lol!! The nurses were very busy and really didn't know what to do for my sis screaming in pain, and probably didn't want to deal with the jerk doc. (Not saying that I would be any better with 10 pts).

So I told you all of that to tell you this. NO WAY was I leaving her! The nurse came in exactly twice during the 11-7 shift, again, if I had 10 post-ops I probably couldn't do much better. But when they "suggested" at 2100 I go home for the night I just laughed. Yeah right. I did bedpan duty, I changed sheets, etc, ect. The only thing they did was give meds.......no assessments, nothing. I got ice packs for leg, helped next day with walker. They just didn't have the time, do you guys?

All that being said, if 5 people are in there with there shoes off their stinky feet being loud that is one thing, but if someones husband wants to stay with their wife I don't see anything wrong with this. As long as he is quiet and respectful of the other pt in the room I don't think it is our place to say he must go. They might have never spent a night apart, and I don't want to be the one that separates them for no reason, other than "policy".

I know my dad, after his MI, would have been much better off in the ICU with my mom with him all night. He was very scared and nervous and all he wanted was mom. They weren't letting her in until morning........and he suffered all night because of this "policy". He didn't let her out of his sight for weeks after! I think it should be a case by case deal, IMO.

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, ER.

In my ER, visitors is up to the nurse for that patient, and the nurse is backed up! What a nice change that is for me.

In my old job, there were *technically* visiting hours, but they weren't enforced if anyone made a peep about them. To the point where one guy rented a specific recliner (apolstered no less... ewww) to be brought in for himself (and mom during the day) for the entire stay (this was an LTAC). When visitors were quiet and helpful, they really weren't a problem. But, when the visitor is at the desk every 15 minutes with "mom wants a sip of water", "mom needs a bedpan", "mom needs new sheets, hers are wrinkled", "mom doesn't want puree food" (asp pneum), "when do I get my tray?" etc, your head can explode. Multiply this visitor by one or two of them for EACH of your patients, and you'll go insane. I couldn't STAND hearing "it's what YOU get paid for". Um.. yeah.. but I do not get paid to put up with your attitude, thank you.

Administration wanted to please everyone BUT the staff. WE would get in trouble if we asked for privacy while we changed a vented patient's bed and the roommate had 15 visitors! Not to mention safety issues with one patient vented and out of it, with no visitors ever, and the roomie with 20 poeple in and out of the room.

It was horrible. I'm ALL FOR visiting hours, as a general rule. Sure there are exceptions (dying pt, peds), but if you're gonna be obnoxious, in the way, and completely unhelpful, you need to leave. I am not YOUR waitress. That's not lack of holism, that's common sense.

I love ER.

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Specializes in ICU/ER/TRANSPORT.

Again I'd like to clarrify my stance on this open door visitation stuff, as far as the floors I don't care, But with ICUs and Er is concerned time visitation policy is the best for the nurse and the patient (in my view). Nothing pisses a nurse off than having to deal with a bunch of idiot families and 2nd cousins twice removed, and be turned into a handmaiden to them, having a irritated pissed off nurse is not good for the patient, so eliminate the irritation, KEEP THE DAMN DOOR LOCKED..

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Specializes in Neuro/Med-Surg/Oncology.
Again I'd like to clarrify my stance on this open door visitation stuff, as far as the floors I don't care, But with ICUs and Er is concerned time visitation policy is the best for the nurse and the patient (in my view). Nothing pisses a nurse off than having to deal with a bunch of idiot families and 2nd cousins twice removed, and be turned into a handmaiden to them, having a irritated pissed off nurse is not good for the patient, so eliminate the irritation, KEEP THE DAMN DOOR LOCKED..

So why is it okay on regular floors to have open visitation? Instead of dealing with "idiot families" of 1-2 patients, they are dealing with 6-10 "idiot families". Do you think that doesn't piss off the floor nurses too? If families are willing to respect patients privacy, the staff's time and be respectful in general, visitation shouldn't be a problem anywhere in the hospital. The problem is that most people aren't and most management doesn't allow this to be addressed and corrected. Just my .02.

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Specializes in LDRP.

being in labor and delivery,the visiting policy is a little more lax. hard to say "sorry, you gotta leave at 8pm" when people are admitted all hours of the day, babies are born at all hours, etc.

generally, i say if you are in labor, you can have everyone and their brother visiting you. when you are delivering, you can have 2 (maybe 3) people in the room.(though once, i did have 6 or so visitors in during delivery, but they all sat on the very large windowsill and therefore were not in the way). its a wonderful event that happens only a few times ever in a woman's life and if she wants to share it with several people, that is her business.

though-

do not wait in the hallway! irritating b/c the OR is at the end of the hallway and if you have to run down the hall with a bed, you dont want 8 people in the way. if she's getting a 2 min cervical check, sure, wait in the hall. but, if its epidural time (20 mins), or delivery time, go to the waiting room! and don't come back until you are called-its most irritating when they are sent to the waiting room while the lady pushes,and then, b/c pushing can take 1-3 hours (or more), they wander down after a while and ask how she's doing, etc etc. trust me-they will call you when you can come back in.

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Specializes in Gerontology.

Another beef - people who bring in young children. Keep them at home! Don't expose them to all the germs etc in a hospital. We had someone come in with very young baby (less them 6 months old) approx 2 weeks after we had just reopened to visitors after SARS. (for you who didn't go through that, most Toronto and area closed down completely to visitors at one point). She wanted him to "see" his grandfather. Grandfather was in with a knee replacement! Hardly life threatening and hardly worth risking exposing your young child to something.

Children under 12 aren't supposed to visit but people ignore that rule too!

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Are you serious? I just cannot believe that a NURSE would smoke weed at the hospital with a patient and the family:uhoh3:

Yes, I am deadly serious. Of course, this was back in the Dark Ages in 1981, but at a very well-respected, large teaching hospital. I still remember the nurse looking me in the eye saying, "I just got to RELAX in this place you know. I can't get through a day without this stuff." Puff puff pass it on...

I had no self-esteem or any kind of backbone back then, had never had any kind of medical problem in my life, and was scared to death that if I said something, she would someway retaliate in my care. I was one dumb teenager.

My roommate was the worst drug seeker I've ever seen in my life, and I didn't even know there was such a name for that behavior back then. She had been in a minor MVA, and screamed bloody murder in front of the docs that she was dying in pain. The docs believed her, were very sympathetic, and trying to figure out why she had this horrible pain. Lord only knows what kind of pain meds they gave her, but she always had to have more. As soon as the docs would leave, off came the c-collar, and she was partying with her brother. She even diverted some of her po meds to share with him.

Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread - just to illustrate a problem with visitors that probably doesn't get much consideration because who would ever believe it could happen? Yes, I really was assaulted as a patient, in broad daylight and during visiting hours that were strictly enforced. Nobody was around to witness the event except the perp's sister, who was drugged out of her mind. How much easier is it for this type of thing to happen now with multiple visitors per patient at all hours of the day and night?

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Specializes in floor to ICU.
So why is it okay on regular floors to have open visitation? Instead of dealing with "idiot families" of 1-2 patients they are dealing with 6-10 "idiot families". Do you think that doesn't piss off the floor nurses too? If families are willing to respect patients privacy, the staff's time and be respectful in general, visitation shouldn't be a problem anywhere in the hospital. The problem is that most people aren't and most management doesn't allow this to be addressed and corrected. Just my .02.[/quote']

:yeahthat:

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Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.
I feel strongly about this. Unless the patient is dying the room is private, or the patient is under-age, no one should be overnighting. I've been a patient in a hospital, and received private care while in a room with another patient and their WHOLE friggin' family. It is absolutely inappropriate. Want to discuss your personal medical-social issues, while half naked in a hospital gown... with a social hour going on right behind the curtain? And it is not up to the roommate to request the removal of visitors after hours.[/quote']

couldn't agree more .there is no need for family to stay all night unless peds or critical.and only if private room.i was pt in semiprivate room several times and have had issues with visitors.in 1 case i almost signed out ama .it took the supervisor and putting me in a new room for me to stay .if i am sick enough to be in the hospital i deserve to have privacy form disrepectful visitors.

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Specializes in Psychiatric.

I work a medical floor right now, and while most folks are generally okay, we get the occasional PITA family member...I'm gone by the time visiting hours are over so I don't have to deal with that, but I have seen some families stay ALL DAY long every day...if I were the patient I'd be exhausted!

I sure do miss working the psych unit...VERY specific visiting hours...one hour, twice a day...no kids under 16, and you get ONE HOUR...after that you gotta go! :) Floating back there is such a joy...

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