Hospital that bans family members

Nurses Relations

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Normally I don't mind family members that much however after a recent string of AWFUL, rude, demanding family members I'm feeling a little jaded toward them right now. A co-worker sharing in my frustration mentioned that she used to work in an ICU in Alabama that only allowed family members between the hours of 8-830. I"m assuming that was both am and pm although I didn't clarify. Granted ICU's tend to have more strict visitor policies then other department so maybe the rest of the hospital was different. But I thought to myself 'what a magical place, I would drive out of my way and take a pay cut just to work there.' So that got me thinking, does anyone know of any hospitals more specifically ICU's in and around Austin, TX that have similar visitor policies? Also, what do you think about that?

I feel really lucky reading what some of you have put up with in the name of "customer service".

My employers policies are really clear with strict hours (because each patient needs rest and visitors need to respect the rest and healing of ALL patients) maximum of two visitors (we cannot crowd the room, we must have access in case of emergency) no children ever (the hospital can be a scary place and we do not want children to witness a traumatic adult situation and exposure to children, day cares, schools, puts our already fragile patients at risk of flu and other communicable disease) and we do not dispense food to visitors. Food can be purchased in the cafeteria, there are vending machines, coffee stand, etc.

Security will gladly come by and explain standards of behavior with anybody that needs a review.

And the care team can weigh in and exclude visitors. If visitors are agitating a patient that needs rest, and they don't follow directions despite being taught, we need to do what's best for the patient. We can't allow their cousin to come in playing the piccolo and just crank up the sedation.

End of life situations are accommodated with a quick call to security: entire families can pack in, we feed everyone that comes, and the Chaplain on call will gladly visit or arrange for clergy as per the patients preference.

It's possible to have sanity in visiting policies, be safe, respectful, and responsive. Usually, it's just about communication and seeing ALL sides of the issue.

If if you are walking into work tomorrow to a roomful of visitors that each want you to explain the situation (instead of designating a family spokesperson or advocate) then I really feel for you. Getting that situation under control when corporate doesn't back you would be a nightmare.

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Awkward story moment. They palliatively extubated my grandfather right before visiting hours were over. There were probably ten of us in his ICU room, waiting for him to die, when his nurse comes in to kick us out because visiting hours are over. We had to beg the charge nurse to let his kids stay. He died about thirty minutes after the rest of us left.

That's awful.

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Specializes in ICU.

I recently had an ICU patient (and frequent flyer) who received exceptional care, and even slept well, as it was a calm and uneventful night.

After lab drew his aml he put on his call light and said "I'm not getting very good customer service this time."

His only issue was that he was awakened to have

blood drawn. It has gotten to the point that some people and even their visitors expect an enjoyable experience.

We are nurses not entertainers. My job is to get people better, not give them a "great experience."

Hospitalizations are not supposed to be the same thing as a vacation trip to Disneyland. They are 7nplanned, inconvenient and involuntary.

Off topic but true: there is one job at Disney that has a ten year long waiting list and that job is terror mountain. The reason for that is that they dont have to smile or even talk to the customers

and being scary is part of the gig. That would be my jam because their isnt enough money in the world for me to be fake nice to a mob of tourists.

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Specializes in Dialysis.
Working the NOC shift will significantly lower your exposure to family members...

Not at hospitals in my area...

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at the hospital i intern at for clinical social work, which is the top 3 in my state, its a free for all with visitors

patient can have as many as they want, all ages at all hours, even in the ICU and during shift changes

only restriction is they have to go thru the emergency room after 9 and get buzzed in by security

but on the other hand at this hospital which is ranked much lower is very strict, no one under 13 can visit, visit only between 10 and 8 and only 2 visitors and must wear a badge

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Yeah, let's ban the nearest and dearest from their loved one's side because they annoy us. We'd all appreciate that when those we care for are ill.

:sarcastic:

I don't mind annoying family members, the kind that are in the way or ask a bunch of questions are annoying but I don't mind them. I loathe the rude, demanding ones that inevitably affect my ability to safely care for my other patients and their loved one. Some people excuse their behavior stating that it's because they're scared and under stress and although I think sometimes that's true I think some of those rude ones are just rude people no matter what situation they're in. They're not snapping their finger at me for coffee because they're scared about their grandmother.

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Awkward story moment. They palliatively extubated my grandfather right before visiting hours were over. There were probably ten of us in his ICU room, waiting for him to die, when his nurse comes in to kick us out because visiting hours are over. We had to beg the charge nurse to let his kids stay. He died about thirty minutes after the rest of us left.

Now that's messed up, of course exceptions need to be made for situations like that.

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I feel really lucky reading what some of you have put up with in the name of "customer service".

My employers policies are really clear with strict hours (because each patient needs rest and visitors need to respect the rest and healing of ALL patients) maximum of two visitors (we cannot crowd the room, we must have access in case of emergency) no children ever (the hospital can be a scary place and we do not want children to witness a traumatic adult situation and exposure to children, day cares, schools, puts our already fragile patients at risk of flu and other communicable disease) and we do not dispense food to visitors. Food can be purchased in the cafeteria, there are vending machines, coffee stand, etc.

Security will gladly come by and explain standards of behavior with anybody that needs a review.

And the care team can weigh in and exclude visitors. If visitors are agitating a patient that needs rest, and they don't follow directions despite being taught, we need to do what's best for the patient. We can't allow their cousin to come in playing the piccolo and just crank up the sedation.

End of life situations are accommodated with a quick call to security: entire families can pack in, we feed everyone that comes, and the Chaplain on call will gladly visit or arrange for clergy as per the patients preference.

It's possible to have sanity in visiting policies, be safe, respectful, and responsive. Usually, it's just about communication and seeing ALL sides of the issue.

If if you are walking into work tomorrow to a roomful of visitors that each want you to explain the situation (instead of designating a family spokesperson or advocate) then I really feel for you. Getting that situation under control when corporate doesn't back you would be a nightmare.

I'm glad you work at a hospital that backs the nurses, not something you hear much anymore. And that's mostly what I'm referring to. I don't have an issue setting boundaries with rude family members. For instance I will nicely tell a difficult family member "if you'd like food and drink there is vending machine downstairs and coffee in the waiting room." However for example I remember these family members that kept demanding food on night shift and ordering excessive food during the day from cafeteria for "the patient" and the nurses cut them off. They shouldn't have even received all the food trays we had on night shift that are for the patients. Then after every nurse explained how the hospital cannot feed family members our director came by EVERY DAY and gave them meal card after meal card for the cafeteria. They claimed they had no money despite looking very well fed. I thought when our director did that it made the nurses look like the bad guys, made them not feel backed up and fed into the hotel mentality that the family already had. Maybe she was trying to help us but I thought it was misguided, setting boundaries would have been better.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

After really thinking about it, I've had only a handful of issues with family members. My biggest beef is the size and layout of our rooms. One visitor in a single room can make care nearly impossible, depending on the necessary equipment in there. Also, the placement of glove boxes, computers and sharps containers are so stupid that it is clear that nursing was never included in the planning.

If if the rooms were big enough with standard equipment in a logical place, my nursing life would be 10000x better. When there are multiple visitors, I'm literally climbing over them, but that isn't the visitors' fault!

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

I remember working at one hospital that would announce at 2000: "Visiting hours are now over. Thank you for visiting our patients. Please have a safe journey home." I thought that was a polite way to tell people to leave.

Way back in the beginning of my career, there were no visiting hours until 1100. I thought that was a good idea, since it gave staff the opportunity to get am care completed and meds given. In the evening, visitors left at 2000. Back then, people abided by visiting hours: they didn't pester staff for drink and snacks; they didn't let their kids run riot all over the department. There was no demanding this or that.

Of course, people were a little more respectful of nurses. We may be credited as "the most trusted profession," but to me that's just a bunch of palaver. People may say they trust us, but that doesn't mean they respect us.

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Of course, people were a little more respectful of nurses. We may be credited as "the most trusted profession," but to me that's just a bunch of palaver. People may say they trust us, but that doesn't mean they respect us.

Agreed!

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Specializes in CVICU.
Awkward story moment. They palliatively extubated my grandfather right before visiting hours were over. There were probably ten of us in his ICU room, waiting for him to die, when his nurse comes in to kick us out because visiting hours are over. We had to beg the charge nurse to let his kids stay. He died about thirty minutes after the rest of us left.

That is insane. I work ICU and if a patient is actively dying and/or CMO, there's no way I'm going to tell the family they have to leave.

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