No visiting hours?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

One hospital in my area has no limitations on their visiting hours on Med/Surg units. Does anyone have any idea how this works out? When do the majority of people visit, on average? Do many stay into the night? Just curious. I am guessing they probably visit mostly 4-10 p.m.

Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.

I mis-read the title "No Visiting Hours?" to mean no visitors. Like some high-end restaurants are advertising No Children so as not to ruin a nice dining experience, I thought now there are hospital units offering a No Visitors option.

I work in the PACU where I have had more than one patient (usually female) say, "I don't want anyone to see me like this" Sometimes they mean without a scarf, make-up, teeth or just out of sorts with bed-head but they obviously see visiting as a social entertainment experience. And most visitors have no clue as to how to be any kind of support person. They bring in their food, phobias, expectations and other assorted nonsense and force a stressed person to put on a show for their benefit. Whether it's to play the sick person or the stoic survivor it's a ridiculous ritual I am happy to avoid when possible.

Due to privacy laws we can limit the number of non-essential personnel in the PACU. On the evening shift when there may be only one patient in PACU I frequently offer the option to the patient for me to go get the visitors. They take me up on it about half the time. I was particularly saddened when one 40-something woman was descended upon by her mother who worked in the nearby pre-op unit. I escorted the mother out to the waiting area and said the patient needed some more time to wake up and I wanted to focus my attention on her. The patient thanked me and said, " I really don't want her in here". I could see she doesn't have much control over how intrusive her mother is.

Hospitalization is not the social event it once was.

0 Votes
Specializes in Registered Nurse.
At the LTC where I work we have very liberal visiting policies - 24/7 chlidren and pets welcome but thats LTC for you,

Yep...that's LTC....but I think I did work in at least one that did have visiting hours. It's not common though.

0 Votes
Specializes in Registered Nurse.
No visiting hours at my hospital. I work nights, so after about 9pm most visitors have left anyway. And a lot of patients will have a family member spend the night. We don't have an age restriction, but kids under 12 aren't allowed in contact rooms. All that being said, we had one pt whose girlfriend would drop his 10-yr old son off at the hospital at night so he could spend the night with his dad. Kid slept in the hospital bed with daddy and everything. I was scared that that man was going to code one night...he wasn't a healthy guy...director said it was okay...:cautious:

We have a pet visiting policy, too.

Oh, that situation with the guy and his son did not sound good. *cringe*.

Yes, I did figure most family/visitors left by 10...but then there are the "others". lol Those are the ones I'd worry about needing to be polite and pretty quiet.

0 Votes
Specializes in Registered Nurse.
I mis-read the title "No Visiting Hours?" to mean no visitors. Like some high-end restaurants are advertising No Children so as not to ruin a nice dining experience, I thought now there are hospital units offering a No Visitors option.

I work in the PACU where I have had more than one patient (usually female) say, "I don't want anyone to see me like this" Sometimes they mean without a scarf, make-up, teeth or just out of sorts with bed-head but they obviously see visiting as a social entertainment experience. And most visitors have no clue as to how to be any kind of support person. They bring in their food, phobias, expectations and other assorted nonsense and force a stressed person to put on a show for their benefit. Whether it's to play the sick person or the stoic survivor it's a ridiculous ritual I am happy to avoid when possible.

Due to privacy laws we can limit the number of non-essential personnel in the PACU. On the evening shift when there may be only one patient in PACU I frequently offer the option to the patient for me to go get the visitors. They take me up on it about half the time. I was particularly saddened when one 40-something woman was descended upon by her mother who worked in the nearby pre-op unit. I escorted the mother out to the waiting area and said the patient needed some more time to wake up and I wanted to focus my attention on her. The patient thanked me and said, " I really don't want her in here". I could see she doesn't have much control over how intrusive her mother is.

Hospitalization is not the social event it once was.

I would agree that a lot of patients don't want some of their visitors anyway! But they probably don't have the guts to tell them to just stay home either. And I agree it's a social thing some feel required to do. You hit that on the head.

When I had my brief, unexpected stay last year, I just wanted my SO there for a short while. Just to see him made me feel better and he stayed a very short time. But there was no way he was staying overnight. I wouldn't force him to or want him to unless I was very seriously ill. But everyone is different. I just don't want the patient, their roomate patients, the patients nextdoor bothered by it...or too much interruption to the care given.

0 Votes
Specializes in CVICU.

I work in an ICU, and the visiting hours are closed for report/start of shift (6:30am-8am, 6:30pm-8pm), then they're open again. Visitors are limited 2 per room, no one younger than 14 allowed.

0 Votes

No limitations on visiting hours sounds like a U.S. healthcare system ploy to keep those satisfaction scores high.

Unless the patient is palliative and close to going or a child I do not understand people who want to stay all night.

0 Votes
No limitations on visiting hours sounds like a U.S. healthcare system ploy to keep those satisfaction scores high.

Unless the patient is palliative and close to going or a child I do not understand people who want to stay all night.

Yup, only palliative, children on an adult unit, or absolutely no spoken English are the only reasons our visitors get to stay over.

0 Votes
Specializes in Critical Care.

I actually find visitors to be much less of a hassle when there are no defined visiting hours. With defined hours, family and friends seem to feel the need to be there that entire time or for a large portion of it, whereas with open visitation they tend to just pop in for very short periods. It seems that when their visitation window is limited they feel the need to use that entire window.

I think people confuse open vs limited visitation with controlled vs uncontrolled visitation. If the patient needs rest then we'll send all visitors away, it doesn't matter if our visitation is considered "open" or not. Same goes for behavior of visitors, "open" visitation does not in any way mean that behavior expectations can't be enforced.

We don't allow family to just "hang out" after bedtime, but family is our most common source for sitters, so I can't really imagine doing away with them all together at night, that would just make for more work and headache for nurses.

0 Votes
OY. Like we needed another reason to dislike JC visits....

Visiting hours give people a much-needed break from well-wishers, IMHO....and there's nothing more stressful to someone who is recovering from surgery--and needing rest, quiet-- than to have a roommate with an endless stream of visitors filling the room :(

Yep very annoying, especially when they are there at all hours and bring the kids.

0 Votes
Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.
OY. Like we needed another reason to dislike JC visits....

Visiting hours give people a much-needed break from well-wishers, IMHO....and there's nothing more stressful to someone who is recovering from surgery--and needing rest, quiet-- than to have a roommate with an endless stream of visitors filling the room :(

I didn't see anything wrong with no set visiting hours until I read this post. I remember a family I had to ask to leave, because their loved one was an anxious mess. They always made her anxious, and she couldn't ask them to leave. So I was the bad guy.

0 Votes
Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.
No limitations on visiting hours sounds like a U.S. healthcare system ploy to keep those satisfaction scores high.

Unless the patient is palliative and close to going or a child I do not understand people who want to stay all night.

My father in law locked horns with a nurse who wanted to give him insulin. He's not diabetic.

She must have thought he was confused, because she became irritated and insisted. He didn't get it, but he could have.

That doesn't include what I've witnessed where I work.

If my family's in the hospital all night, I will be too.

0 Votes
Specializes in Registered Nurse.
My father in law locked horns with a nurse who wanted to give him insulin. He's not diabetic.

She must have thought he was confused, because she became irritated and insisted. He didn't get it, but he could have.

That doesn't include what I've witnessed where I work.

If my family's in the hospital all night, I will be too.

Terrible story....and, yes, nurses can make mistakes. I always listen to a patient that says that's not my med....even if they are confused at times. That is sad that that is why you'd feel you'd need to stay.

Adding: I always advise people I know and patients to be their own advocate and tell a nurse or doctor if something seems wrong, like not a medication they need or take.

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment