Just a question...I was wondering how many of you work at a hospital that actually does not allow visitors in after visiting hours is over?? I mean do they lock the doors, turn off pt phones, only way in is the ED entrance...Anything like that???
I'm asking because my hospital DOES NOT lock down in anyway....visitors come and go through out the night!! Doesn't matter if it is 2am or 2pm...No one stops them at the front entrance.
It is so creepy to be sitting at your desk charting and get that creepy feeling and turn around to see 5 people standing there "we come to see "mama"!!! (usuallly drunk and disruptive, loud and intrusive.....the usual:( )
One time a person put there finger in a nurses back that was charting and said..>"you know I could shoot you if I wanted to; it would be easy"!!!!!! Bad thing is that he is right!!
I work at a level one trauma center with many attempted murders, gang violence, etc.....
Just the other night I had to have a visitor physically removed from my floor and hospital b/c of the threatening behaivor and verbal abuse. Although he was told not to come back that night there would be no way to have stopped him.
It is scary to think that you could be in danger at work from the visitors.....the adminstrators are more concerned with being "community friendly" than maintaining the physical safety of their staff!!!
I am absolutely shocked at the lax security in your hospital! Security measures at my hospital include:
1. Hospital is locked after 8 PM. Pt's coming in after that must go through security in the ER, or by buzzing at the locked door from the parking garage. Security calls the floor and verifies with the nurse that the visitor is allowed in.
2. After 8PM, 1st floor elevators and stairwell doors are locked and can only be unlocked by running your ID badge through a reader, preventing visitors from wandering unescorted by staff throughout the building. Lending a visitor your ID badge so he can go down to the caf and come back after hours will result in a big punishment ( I forget what. Probably suspension. ).
I am really glad you posted this. I tend to be pretty liberal - the kind of person who wants to bend the rules and let the families stay past visiting hours. I tended to see people with the opposite viewpoint as rules Nazis. This has really made me reconsider.
We close the doors at 8pm, there is line at the ER entrance security desk, for the next couple of hours. Visiting is restricted, and a phone call is made to the unit to see if someone can visit. If you are not next of kin, forget it!
Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.
Originally posted by grouchy
I am really glad you posted this. I tend to be pretty liberal - the kind of person who wants to bend the rules and let the families stay past visiting hours. I tended to see people with the opposite viewpoint as rules Nazis. This has really made me reconsider.
One of my favorite things about this site - it really challenges my assumptions and opinions :).
My current facility has ED entrance only open after hours. Not well-guarded as far as preventing people from meandering into the rest of the hospital, however. Given that, I am, as always, grateful to work on a locked psych unit. It keeps our people in, and more importantly some days, the REALLY crazy people *out.*
Last hospital I worked at shut all doors but ED after a certain hour with entrance manned by security and buzzed the nurses' station with anyone claiming to have permission to come up after hours.
All of our doors except the ER are locked after 830pm. You must have an ID badge to "unlock" the door to enter. The only problem is that sometimes one person will swipe and 5 will come in behind them. And the ER is pretty lax in letting people go through to the back door and allowing them to go to the floors.
Security does their best but what are you going to do when there are only three security officers on. One outside, one inside, and one in the ER. Kind of scary actually!
We lock down at 9pm. Nobody comes in after then if you're not an employee, physician, etc. If you're coming to visit a patient security calls the floor and checks with the nurse. There's only one elevator that visitors have access to at night. It's locked up pretty tight. All untis except the floors are "locked" 24/7 (surgery, the various ICUs, etc.) are all locked.
Specializes in Interventional Pain Mgmt NP; Prior ICU and L/D RN.
Originally posted by gwenith
[b
You definitely need to lobby the hospital management for more and better security.
While it is your problem managment will do nothing. So we have to shift "ownership" of the problem from nursing to management. Start a "Monthly security log" entering breeches such as the drunk visitors at 2 am pointing out that it not only inconvieniences nursing staff but your patients who do not want to be disturbed by this.
Bring it up at your staff meeting and explain what you are about and why and recruit security into it. Once you have some sort of record of how many people are wandering in and out who are causing problems then you can use that to point out that these people could be walking off with hospital equipment. Prevention of theft will cau$e management to con$ider increa$ed $ecurity where potential threats to nursing staff would not. [/b]
Excellent Idea Gwenith!!! I can bring this up at our staff meeting this Thursday!!
I will say that our police officers (we have both officers and security) are young and on the ball when you do call them...THANK GOD FOR THAT AT LEAST!) No "barney fifes":)
I want to THANK YOU all for your reply's...it makes me feel that at least I am not being (lack of a better word) silly about this. Yes I want the families to visit, but I also want to know that I am safe at night and that the pt's are safe at night. I have enough to worry about with the pt's that get out of hand and cause problems that the officers have to come up for.....my greatest fear is that a staff member is going to get seriously injured or assaulted. You know at night there is less staff and walking down back halls you may not see anyone at all!! Even the smoking area for workers has a keypad entrance, but staff give the code out to visitors (they even changed the code to try to prevent this, but they gave out the new one also. The back entrance to the hospital is badge entrance only.................
I just wish they would lock us down at night and take the necessary preventions to protect the staff.....and yes they need to be MUCH STRICTER with the visitors during the daytime also. Allowing 10 or more people up to the unit is unsafe for the day people also. Many fights break out and it also makes it so the nurse can not reach the pt.!!
I will mention keeping a log and the possible theft of equipment....administration does hate to lose money don't they???
We lock all doors except ER after 2100 and reopen at 0530. Security post at ER door has cameras, etc. and they are mostly young guys, but none carry weapons. Pedi and nursery are locked down units with cameras, etc. and security bracelets on pts. 24/7. As a former night nurse my experience with late night visitors was that the visitor was satisfying his/her own needs, not those of the patient. Some actually wanted a place to crash. Did not matter to some that pt. needed rest.
I think our doors are locked about 10 p.m. but that depends if the person who locks them has time to lock them. It used to be the Supervisor and if she is busy in the ER, well . . .. The only entrance open is by the ER but anyone can still walk in. There is a buzzer at the front door . . .you have to be let in after a godawful alarm rings throughout the acute side of the hospital.
It is so funny to me when some of you guys talk about being a small hospital with 200 beds . . . we have 15 acute beds and 3 OB beds. We are really small.
Sad that it usually takes a catastrophe for some hospitals to look at security as a real issue..that or lots of thefts. The recent push for open visiting is a big concern for me too from this standpoint.
Society today is more demanding, rude, wants it 'their way' and instantly, never wants to hear no. Sure does make our job dangerous and tough when management allows visitors round the clock.
We now have one armed officer at night due to thefts and a baby snatching. Our ER door stays open and the admitting clerk tries to question late night visitors, but they sneak by.
We are not supported by our manager when we ask disruptve visitors to leave the ICU. Many of our nurses are considering leaving for the local hospital that locks down ICU at night.
Most doors where I work lock at 6pm...I belive the main enterance locks at 9pm and security is there. There is a door in one of the parking structures that is open 24/7 with security sitting there and they call up to the floors if there is a visitor to ask if it is ok for them to come up, the ER does not let anyone in for visiting....employees can not even come thru the ER!! We have to use our ID's in the card reader to get in at night, but like someone said earlier....you open the door and 5 people come in after you!! I try to not let people in at all and explain to them that they have to go thru security! Also security is highly visable all the time. A few years back we had someone come thru the
yup, mine does. My hubby tried to bring me a change of clothes & couldn't get in, nor could he get into the parking deck for visitors, since the gate was down. I couldn't meet him since I was stuck in the bathroom NEEDING a change of clothes. One of the smokers went down & picked up my clothes. I have worked there more than a year & he still had no clue where dept is & won't come near the place after that happened......
grouchy
238 Posts
I am absolutely shocked at the lax security in your hospital! Security measures at my hospital include:
1. Hospital is locked after 8 PM. Pt's coming in after that must go through security in the ER, or by buzzing at the locked door from the parking garage. Security calls the floor and verifies with the nurse that the visitor is allowed in.
2. After 8PM, 1st floor elevators and stairwell doors are locked and can only be unlocked by running your ID badge through a reader, preventing visitors from wandering unescorted by staff throughout the building. Lending a visitor your ID badge so he can go down to the caf and come back after hours will result in a big punishment ( I forget what. Probably suspension. ).
I am really glad you posted this. I tend to be pretty liberal - the kind of person who wants to bend the rules and let the families stay past visiting hours. I tended to see people with the opposite viewpoint as rules Nazis. This has really made me reconsider.