How do you deal with family?
I generally don't mind them and tell them what "I" can. I ask the patient if it is ok to talk with their family unless they have dementia. I don't tell test results unless they have a CXR and it showed nothing otherwise I tell them they need to speak with the doctor and I can leave a note on the front of the chart for the doctor with their contact information.
Some families can be overbearing. I worked Tuesday and Wednesday. Had the same patients both days. On Tuesday I received no less than 10 calls inquiring about the same patient. I am sorry this patient has 4 living daughters and 1 son but there has to be ONE person that is the main contact who is calling to see how the patient is doing. A couple of the calls I never got to take. Near the end of the day I was talking to one of the daughters and told her I was receiving an excessive amount of phone calls and there needed to be one point of contact. Of course she said she would be the point of contact. The second day I had talked to the main daughter which I had no problem with. Then I received a call from one of the granddaughters. The secretary told her I was extremely busy and wouldn't be able to give her any information but she still wanted to speak with me. I got on the phone and told her that she was resting and doing fine but I couldn't give any further informaion and she would need to speak with her aunt since that is my point of contact. She hung up on me which I didn't care about. She came up to the hospital later and told me it was unprofessional how I handled it and she has a right to know what is going on with her grandmother - blah, blah, blah. I explained I can't give information out for privacy reasons (she says there is no privacy). I stated it is hospital policy and I spoke with her aunt and she is the main point of contact and can get her info from her. She was arguing with me that she is not able to just be by the phone. I stated that this was a family issue and we would not be able to speak with everyone who called and it was excessive.
The way I see it is that when I keep getting interrupted this is taking away from the care I am providing. It is extremely busy and I have to go off the floor with certain patients for tests, perform procedures, pass meds, do assessments, etc.
Also one of the patients other daughters was there earlier and I explained the situation with this granddaughter and she agreed with me. She immediately knew which granddaughter it was and just rolled her eyes at me.
Just looking for some feedback on how you deal with family.
Kelly