Family in or out during procedures???

[CyndieRN2007]

I was at work last night and I had a patient who needed some procedures done, (I had to drop a foley, start an IV and do an ekg) and her family was very demanding. I asked them to step out while I worked on her and that we were doing everything to make sure she got the best care, but they refused. Inside, I was furious, but since the patient (older woman who was a bit confused) did not object to adult sons being in the room while I was dropping the foley, I didnt push the issue... but I think I should have.

So Im asking, if you dont feel comfortable with the family in the room, do you make them step out or let them stay???

[PANurseRN1]

What did the pt. want?

Personally, I would have laid down the law and made them leave; I'd have called security if necessary. A foley is way too intimate a procedure to have family members standing there, and an EKG on a female pt. is nearly as intimate.

I am really getting sick of the entitled mentality so many people have these days. Hospital mgmt. doesn't help, what with the whole emphasis on "customer service."

[Keepstanding, ASN, RN]

I always would ask the family to step out for what could be embarassing procedures. Most families that I have encountered when I worked in the hospital were more than happy not to see what what going on !

I mean come on, what "normal" person wants to see their elderly mother be catheterized..... I know it must have made you feel real uncomfortable. Sorry you had to have this experience

LPN 90

[CyndieRN2007]

Yes, I was definately uncomfortable!!! Well, see.... one of the adult sons is an EMT and demanded to stay with his mother while we assessed her. He wasnt just pushy with me, he even told the doctor that he wanted morphine given to his mother because she was very anxious!!! (She is a very frequent patient at our hospital). The doc didnt stand for his pushy requests.

[smoo]

I always just say what I'm going to do and give the pt and family the option of staying in or leaving. There have been times, such as one lady who was a very hard stick and a couple people had tried before they called me, that I knew I needed to really concentrate and would do better without an audience, so I told the family that and asked if they would mind stepping out, as I didn't want mom to be stuck anymore than she needed to be. They stepped out, one dgtr clearly wasn't happy, but I got the IV in..

On the other hand as a family member....my grandpa was in the hospital and the CNA came in to do something and next thing I know there is my grandpa naked from the waist down, she had just pulled the blanket down. Well needless to day he was mortified as was I. You better believe I let her have it

Smoo

[CyndieRN2007]

This also reminds me of a touchy situation when I was a student on L&D clinical. There was a really sweet girl who was having her first baby. She looked pretty familiar to me and she stated the same about me. We decided that we had had a college course together at the local community college. We really hit it off after that. She let me start an IV on her, and even let me check to see how dilated she was. Her and her husband seemed pretty excited. At one point, her mother and father arrived and she pulled me close and whispered she didnt want her mother in the room during her vag checks and definately not when she had the baby. I told her I would also step out if she didnt want me to observe and assist during the labor and birth. She said she wanted me there!!!!! The mother was obviously hurt and furious that her daughter didnt want her in the labor room during the birth.The primary nurse and I were responsible for telling the mother that she would need to step out during the checks and birth. Yikes!! :chair: I felt uncomfortable around the mother but I still assisted during the L&D and recovered the baby!!!

[PANurseRN1]

It can be done. I had a very pushy family that tried to force their in to see a relative. I told them I would call them into the room when I was done assessing the pt. Period. No amount of cajoling, no amount of impatient sighs changed my mind. My first priority was the pt., not the family's demand to be there (it wasn't a situation of life or death). The pt. later said he was very relieved to have his privacy respected.

Part of it comes from getting used to saying "no" in a way that doesn't exactly sound like a "no." If that doesn't work, then you have to have the confidence to just flat out tell them that it's not an appropriate time.

I would rather have family members angry with me than the pt. feeling like his/her privacy was violated.

[Redbird13]

If the patient is alert and oriented I will ask the patient if they would like their family to step out of the room. If the patient is not able to make the decision then I ask the family if they would like to step out or stay. For those who refuse I just think of it as helping build the nurse/family trust relationship.

[liscormun]

I always think it is best to ask the patient if they want the family to say or leave. I think if there is any discomfort with having the family present, it is because the nurse is not comfortable with his or her skills. I must admit, I too get a little nervous about knowing that one of my patients is a nurse or former nurse, but then I remember that I am a good nurse and take a deep breath and relax.:icon_hug:

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

I say out, for the most part.

When I worked with adults as a CNA, if I had to do something like bathe or give a bedpan to someone and their family refused to leave, I'd tell them that part of my job was to preserve their family member's dignity. That even if they were unconscious, they still wouldn't want their family members in the room when I'm doing these personal procedures. Usually that worked and they put themselves in the pateint's place.

Now that I work with babies, sometimes it's very hard to get the parents to leave the bedside, especially if they're very critical or demanding. Sometimes I'll just say, "I'm sorry, I need you to step outside for a bit while I do this - why don't you go grab a cup of coffee?" or something. If that doesn't work, I'll say, "You really don't want to see this" because usually they don't even realize that by hovering, they're going to have to witness a procedure on their child. They just wanted to control and watch us to make sure we do things right, without stopping to think about what they have to watch. I only let them watch heelsticks, and even then I ask if they want to step out or if it's okay to do it in front of them. The rest, I don't want them there and tell them it'll be more comfortable for everyone for them to leave.

Now codes are a different thing, of course. We always try to have the parents there because if the code is unsuccessful, we want them to know that we really did everything we could, and so that they are there for the last moments of their child's life.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

I always ask the family to step out. If they don't, i pull the curtain around.

[thebonster]

I always asked family to step out for a moment.

There was a 17 yr old girl with # c-spine we were putting in halo, her mom and dad were adament that they stay and watch. I was honest and said that this is something that no parent should ever watch, and if their daughter wanted to tell them about it (after her versed) she would. But that I would be with her and assisting the Dr. and we both would treat her as our own family.

They went for coffee and when they came back thier daughter told them (when she finished her sleep) that it wasn't bad at all:rolleyes:

Some family refused to leave and I would carry on - but not be comfortable with peri-care. Sorry but that is just plain creepy!