Dilemma - family as a possible patient on my unit

[Nurseannieb]

I recently accepted a job at a very well known and prestigious hospital. I am a new grad and this was my first choice hospital. Fell in love with the facility because both my father and grandmother were/are patients there and I was so impressed with their care and knowledge as it's a huge teaching hospital. My 2 choices were neuro ICU and oncology. I chose oncology. Soon to find out that it is the exact same floor that my grandma was on 6 months ago. It's the only oncology floor and I even recognized some staff from her visit. I ofcoorifice did not say anything and did not realize at the time of my job interview that if my grandma were to ever be admitted in patient again for her lung cancer that she would most likely be on this floor due to it being the only onco floor... I did mention during my interview that I had family that went to this hospital... hence my reasons for applying there. I did not mention that my grandma had been on that same floor. I wonder if she'll ever be admitted there again, as with cancer it's almost certain that someday she would probably need to be...

my question is should i disclose this to my new employer? Should I tell them that I had recognized that she had been on this floor.

Or or should I just wait for the day it happens? I do not want to jeopardize anything and I certainly don't want anyone speculating my intentions.

my intentions were never bad and I know that if that happened I would ofcoorifice need to request to not be her primary nurse and stay the heck away from her chart etc...

i just dont don't know what to do? I don't want to disclose this and then be let go and lose such an amazing opportunity.

oncology is my passion and asa new grad I am BLESSED for such a great opportunity but at the same time I have such a weary feeling about the whole potentional for conflict.

[Wuzzie]

Mountains out of molehills annieb. Nobody there cares that your grandma was a patient nor do they care if she becomes one again (and by caring I mean it isn't an issue). This happens all the time. There is nothing to disclose. If she gets admitted again let your charge nurse know so she isn't assigned to you and carry on. They are not going to fire you for this but you must let your family know that if it occurs you are not available to them while you are on duty. That's where things can get sticky.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Exactly. This is a big, fat non-issue. You don't care for family as an employee and that's it. No biggie.

[Libby1987]

Think about this for perspective … I live in a rural county where there is only one small hospital, imagine how often relatives of staff are seen there. Imagine our EMTs and paramedics.. Yes sadly, they come across both the garden variety and tragic situations where they know those involved. You wouldn't expect the hospital and EMS services to hire all from out of county, would you?

Or think about how any of the staff at your large prestigious hospital can and have had a family member treated there at any given time, because that is where they're likely going to go for cutting edge treatment.

Definitely a non-issue

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I live in a small, rural community as well with one hospital. I know just about everyone.

This is normal for me.

Now that I work in hospice, it can be even more personal since I've had family members as patients. I excused myself from being involved in their patient care and my employer was fine with that.

The only issue is, as someone else stated, what family members expect. I had to have my manager sit down with my family when my father-in-law was a patient and explain how I was simply going to be the family member and not nurse. That was a tough time as some family still thought I should be the nurse.

[Nurseannieb]

Thank you. I think my new grad nerves are starting to come through. I appreciate your responses a lot; it's definitely calmed me down a bit.

[AceOfHearts<3]

It's a nonissue. The mother of a nurse on my unit was admitted to our unit- it didn't create any issues.

[Fiona59]

It's a non starter. See their name on the census and just tell the charge they are family. Charges just change the assignment. I've had instructors from nursing school and always asked them if they wanted me to care for them or would they like another nurse? Never had one send me away and the Charge was fine with me doing this.

[Mandychelle79, ASN, RN]

My best friend traveled over an hour to go to the hospital I worked at because the local one ignored her symptoms. When she told me where she was being admitted, it was my floor in my block of rooms that I had been assigned the night before (we try to keep same assignments). I called into the unit, told them what was going on, and she was assigned to another nurse. No biggie.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Yeah, slow down young grass hopper. I agree it's a non issue. I worked in the only BMT unit for hundreds of miles around for years, so anyone that had a BMT was admitted there. I had a handful of people I personally knew filter through and they were just assigned to different nurses.

It's common for new nurses to borrow trouble. Try not to.

I am curious about a super prestigious well known hospital with only one oncology unit.

[de05432]

Thanks for posting this. I've had the same questions myself when it comes to jobs.

[TriciaJ, RN]

I was hired onto a unit where I had previously had 2 surgeries. I disclosed that in my interview and the NM asked me how was my care? I told her it was excellent and that's why I wanted to work there. It obviously made points with her.

My partner was on my floor for his surgery. I took days off and camped out with him. Because I was able to get things from staff areas (like pillows and jello) I was able to save his nurses (my coworkers) some wear and tear. But anything that had to be legally signed for (like meds) was on them. I was still family, not his nurse.