Visiting hours, whose job to enforce them???

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Apr 20, 2007

The nurse as a patient advocate can enforce or override visiting hours. A very sick patient who has roudy inappropriate visitors asks those people to please leave as the patient needs rest.

A dying patient is allowed visits at hours not usually allowed.

Justify your decision in your nurses notes and you will not be questioned.

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · Apr 20, 2007

You just need to tell them the visiting hours and that's the end of it. Where I work, people can go to the floors, but if it isn't visiting hours, then they are turned away. We also have booklets we give out with the visitation policy for our unit. As for others butting in, just tell them that you can't say anything to them about the other patient as there are laws that prevent you from saying anything.

The problem we usually have is that you have people who don't like to be the "bad guy" and tell people the rules.

glasgow3 · Apr 20, 2007

The nurse as a patient advocate can enforce or override visiting hours. A very sick patient who has roudy inappropriate visitors asks those people to please leave as the patient needs rest.
A dying patient is allowed visits at hours not usually allowed.
Justify your decision in your nurses notes and you will not be questioned.

Bless your heart, that's the way things USED to be and SHOULD be. In many facilities these days, any attempt to enforce rules of any type is met by "customer" complaints-----and the rules are subsequently ignored. Even when the "customer" blatently flaunts the rules, you will be made to feel that your approach/wording was wrong.

So in this day and age, I just report things to my charge nurses knowing full well that if they do nothing they look foolish to staff and if they intervene, they will be the ones to receive the complaints and counseling. lololol Works for me..lololol

TazziRN, RN · Apr 20, 2007

Each facility I have worked in or visited in has always had the posted visiting hours as starting at 1000 or noon. I have never seen this enforced except in units, not even in OB. I understand the need for enforcement but at the same time I see it from the family's side: the need/desire to speak with the physician, for example. Since no one ever knows just when the docs will round, it's safest to show up early and wait.

One option could be to post a sign at the nurses station to please wait until a certain time to make requests because of report and nurse rounds.

Crux1024 · Apr 20, 2007

The hospital I am at, it seems as if there are no visiting hours. You can access the hospital at any time, day or night (which is a little scary) But, I have been to other hospitals, where as soon as you walk in, there is a security guard and a receptionist, they ask you your business, check for the pt you want to see, and print out a nametag for you. They also keep track of the number of people and the desk is situated right in front of the elevator so they will know who goes in and out...

Im not sure which is better, it seems extreme to me in both cases..:)

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Apr 20, 2007

At night, we ask them to leave if they haven't responded to the overhead announcement that visiting hours are over. They almost always do. The occasional few that stick around and are difficult about it, we have security deal with (assuming no real reason for them to be there, such as a dying patient in a private room, obviously we give plenty leeway for that).

In the mornings, our visiting hours start at 9am. Usually not a problem; the people that slip in early rarely if ever try to interrupt report or anything like that. If they're coming in early, they know it, and usually try to be unnoticed! And we don't care, as long as they get out of the way for MD rounds, a.m. hygiene, etc. If someone is in WAY too early (like it's 5 am!) then we ask them to please go to the waiting area, get a cup of coffee, and come back later...it's still nighttime for sick patients, for crissakes. Again, rarely a problem.

NicoleRN07, RN · Apr 20, 2007

You, as the nurse are an advocate for the patient, so if you feel that your patient should have limited visitors or visiting hours, it is your or your charge nurses duty to enforce this. I do not work on a floor, but in a very busy ER, but having visitors with the patient is in a way to our advantage. We have several patients that we are taking care of, and on most occassions only get around to looking in on each patient briefly, but when you have a visitor in the room, they can help to clue us in on a change in patient condition. So, despite the fact that family and friends can be very annoying at times, consider them an asset to you and the care that you provide to your patient.

all4schwa · Apr 20, 2007

This is a big problem on my unit. On admission we review the policy. There is an overhead page, then we reiterate the policy for them. We have very small rooms with two pts a piece. It is not conducive to having people in there all night long. If they refuse for me (provided one of those exceptions doesnt exist), I refer them to my charge nurse. We suggest if they need to be there, they hang out in the waiting room and come back hourly to check on there loved one. Quietly. Sometimes this goes over well, and sometimes it doesnt. We're step down, so we get a lot of that "ICU syndrome." I really just wish we could let people stay all night if they feel they need too, but I've got people to answer to also. I dont know what the answer is....

jennyfyre · Apr 20, 2007

I work on a peds/gyn unit, 18 beds of which 4 are privates. Our policy for parents of the peds patients is very lax.. they can visit or stay with their children as they wish. For our gyns, visiting hours are over officially at 9pm. Sometimes if the pt. doesn't have a room mate or for other special circumstances, we allow people to stay later. If a pt. gets a visitor after 9pm, they have to sign in with Security. The only open door at that point is ER. The rest of the doors are locked and need a badge to open. When they sign in with security, we get a page or phone call telling us that the visitor is expected. This doesn't happen often, but it's nice to know when to expect someone at night!! Usually it's just parents trading shifts or something. :) We once had the mom of a teenage girl check her child out AMA because we would not let her boyfriend (17) stay all night with her!! That's about the only problem we've ever really encountered.

gitterbug · Apr 20, 2007

This is all part of the new patient and families are customers and we need to service their needs and wants more than give the care they should have. A patient and the family actually delayed the surgery attendant from doing his job just last week. He called the OR, informed the CN of situation, She then called the floor nurse, spoke with the floor CN, even the NM. All of this did no good. The doctor and the whole OR staff was kept waiting for 45 minutes just so this family could make a show of how much they love their Mom. It would not have been so funny but the surgery was a lap chole, not open heart. I do wonder what would happen if she was really in need of a long, indept procedure. Visiting hours are a nightmare most of the time, we just do the best we can, report the problems to the CN, and let the higher ups do whatever they want to do. I always chart when treatments, meds, or anythings else is missed, refused, or delayed because of family issues. Good luck, but the reality is being a good nurse, a good employee, and a patient advocate are worlds apart in todays settings.

pkapple · Apr 20, 2007

The biggest problem we get with visiting is the fact that every nurse has a dif opinion of enforcement--so if auntie stayed all night last night, why not tonight? or days says its ok but nocs has other ideas. personnally the media is also causing grief--you should have an advocate--so an alert, intelligent, 35 year old needs a non-medical friend or neighbor to stay 24/7??? yeah, right. We have semi-privates, no opposite sex member can stay if both beds occupied, so staff will block the other bed cause a wife wants to stay, they don't stay awake or assist the patient with adl's, then when er has an admit they can't find a "boy" bed cause 2 rooms are blocked out--geeeze these people aren't dying or overly confused--those pts get dumped and family goes on vacatyikes--this is a pet peeve of mine!