Parental supervision on ped floors(m)

[endoblues]

My child recently had a 5 day hospital stay. I feel it is important to be with my child 100% but I ran into a situation which I asked the nurse if she cared to stay with my child for 5-7 mins(at best) so I could run to the kitchen to get milk for my child who was all hooked up to varies wires. Was it wrong or rude of me to ask, I knew I wasn't going to have other family support for several hrs and my child needed to be fed. Nurse was compliant but I would imagine nurses already do enough and I'm sure they rather not "babysit" on top of their other duties. During this time the nurse was getting ready to do vitals and such and I thought it would be a good time to run out while my child was "supervised" even if it wasn't "family". For some reason I feel so guilty leaving my child for such a short time. The rest of the time someone was always there. I saw some children who didn't have family members with them and were really little. I don't know the circumstances but it was upsetting to me. Anyway do any of you get upset if a parent asks you to keep an eye on their child for a short time with a meaningful purpose?

TIA

[ItsyBitsySpider, BSN, RN]

I had a parent yesterday that told me when her son was hospitalized in Houston this summer, she was forbidden to leave the room at all! Now granted, she is probably exaggerating, but she said she was told on admission that under no circumstances would she be allowed to leave him. This kid is an adolescent with no psych, behavioral, or other physical or mental issues that would require round-the-clock observation. Just wondering if anyone's ever heard of this or has this rule at their place of employment. I thought it was a bit extreme especially considering his age.

[courtneyrobinson]

Yes i do agree that the nurses should be there for the parents when they need some time to go get something to eat or run home for more clothes b/c they didn't expect to stay at the hospital for that long. But the only problem and the main reason why hospitals have this rule is because of the people who will take full advantage of the nurses an the nursing staff. "I need to go smoke can someone please come watch my baby" and that is when the nursing staff is able to say no b/c we do not take time out of our jobs or find someone to sit in thier room b/c they want to smoke. These are the type of parents that don't just go smoke once a day when times are very stressful its like 6-7 times a shift. or they plain won't tell you they are leaving they just leave their kid to smoke. I fully agree that parents need thier time away b/c they are sitting in that small room and maybe they just need some fresh air but what nurses have to do is educate that smoking is not something that we babysit for. And the times that they just get up and leave thier children and not told anyone that they are going anywhere we have asked them do you run to the store just to pick up something and leave your baby home alone but your neighbor is right outside they will hear if anything happens they always say no. so we say its the same thing here you can't just leave your children you have to atleast say that your going so we can sit with your child.

[courtneyrobinson]

i wasn't trying to be rude at all it just amazes me that parents would want to leave their sick children do selfish things. My sister is a single mother w/ a child that is in the hospital all the time. Which she never leaves the room unless somebody in the family is in the room and that is to run and get food or to milk for the baby. but being a ped nurse that is one thing i'll never understand is why parents want to leave their sick baby for selfish reasons.

[climberrn]

I work PICU but sometimes float to peds. When parents ask if I can stay with their kiddo, I find most of them respond very well to my honesty. If I can, right then I do but I always include the caveat that I might have to leave if another patient is in trouble. If I can't right then, I tell them when I can and then I make sure that I follow through. I've never had anyone be upset with that. I would venture to say that most parents, if you give them respect and options (I can't stay while you get the milk but I can get the milk now and give you a break in about 30 minutes) are fine with it. Most are reasonable people and recognize you have other responsibilities.