Like the set of parents we have right now, their baby is in the ICU room, lines etc , but will be a short term stay, compared to the 24 week, now 30 week tiny in the next bed space. These parents come in, are so loud..bring the 4 yr old sibling from haades, who I swear, flashed his eyes at me red, when Iasked him to sit on his behind and stop jumping and touching stuff!! Anyhow, today, my wee tiny is out for kangaroo care with her mammy, all nice and quiet, after 3 days of being unwell, and this family come in and totally spoil the quality of the cuddles for the mammy and baby who needed it so! They are an obnoxious family, gentle hints dont work, and their noisy behaviour had an effect on the really sick preemie who needed time out with her mother.
How do you guys handle such loud families...(apart from tripping up the "damien" boy, so they HAVE to leave to visit the emergency room???) (am only kidding about tripping him up btw..well, I THINK I am!)
I never feel like this about families, Ilove the kiddos that visit, but this family are so disrespectful of whats happening around them, I'm going :devil: every time they come in. Any tips on tactfulness guys????
How do you guys handle such loud families...(apart from tripping up the "damien" boy, so they HAVE to leave to visit the emergency room???) (am only kidding about tripping him up btw..well, I THINK I am!)
I never feel like this about families, Ilove the kiddos that visit, but this family are so disrespectful of whats happening around them, I'm going :devil: every time they come in. Any tips on tactfulness guys????
I am in the US on oncology, and in the last week, have had 3 separate incidents of "Damiens" in the hall, wearing heelies and rolling down the hall.
(Heelies -those annoying noisy shoes with skates in them).
It's an Oncology floor, and they are skating, screaming, and playing tag, meamwhile wiping their running nose on their sleeves.
Not a parent in sight...they are in the room with kids in the hall.
And if I remind them that kids under the age of 12 are not permitted, they will launch in to a crying jag about how heartless I am because their Mother/brother/cousin/grammy/bridge partner/mah-jong friend/caddy has got CANCER, and they just have to visit.
(It's an onco floor - EVERYONE has cancer)
So why are the kids in the hall.....so the nurse can watch'em?
Why do they come to the hospital in HEELIES?
Why can't they shut up and getting playing "slap games" at each other until someone cries or draws blood.
WHY THE HE77 do you bring sniffly, sneezy, runny nosed kids onto an immunosuppression floor, where they can trip nurses carrying vesicant chemo, play in the isolation garbage, try to pull the needle case off the wall by hanging off it and doing pullups, or dump the contents of the chemo waste can on the floor?
We had a mother refuse to stop taking pictures of her (CPAP) baby while they were (unsuccessfully) coding her podmate. Her response was that her baby was just as sick as every other baby in the unit. At that time, that was... not true. It was true later on, though.
Eeek. I wonder if she gave herself bad luck by making that comment. Like, watch it with the sense of entitlement due to illness, because you may end up with just what you wanted.
We had this one family that was a teenage (14) mother and her mother (proud grandma) who hated each other and had loud arguments on the unit, they were spoken to multiple times but we are "Family Centered" and the behavior continued. The baby was a 24 weeker who did relatively well.
I remember one time the teenage mother came to visit after she was found from running away from her mom and was happy that she was getting to feed her baby for the first time. She was still arguing with her mother when the baby next to hers was actively passing away, coded multiple times.
We had one mom that was so bad, nurses were putting themselves on the mom's "crap list" so they didn't have to watch her baby!
I'm at that point right now with one of our moms. I feel bad for saying it, but she is so mean. Instead of just asking for something she asks, then starts in on a nasty diatribe about it. I try to be sympathetic, who knows how I would act if it were my baby. But, I am not her doormat either, she always requests me. Yesterday she was telling me what 'types' of nurses she didn't want. She treats everyone like dirt. I am going to put myself as a pirmary on a baby at the other end of the nursery, I like him and his parents a lot, they always make a point of saying hi to me and giving me updates when I see them.
I am a new grad and have been working on the unit for a total of 4 months. I am having a hard time finding the right words to use when telling parents to quiet down, or bring their other children in the waiting room. I wish I could just assertively tell them, but I am afraid to be the "mean" nurse and have it be reported to the nurse manager so early in my new job (my nurse manager highly values parent satisfaction surveys). On the other hand I would rather be reported as a mean nurse because I know I would be doing whats right by advocating for my patient. Yet, this is still one of my harder obstacles as a new grad.
Specializes in Level II & III NICU, Mother-Baby Unit.
I remember a nursing instructor who gave us some really good advice. "When you have to make a difficult decision, and there will be many small and large ones, stop and ask yourself 'What is in the best interest of the patient?'; there you will find your answer and no one will be able to fault you for your decision-making process." I've used this advice many times in the past. In the case of loud families this advice gives me the kick in the pants I need to ask them to quieten down as I am remembering how important it is for my little patients to have the quiet and peace they need to rest and grow. Hope this helps you in some way...
It's RSV season; NO siblings under 12 years...hospital policy.
Otherwise, we have activities. Color sheets, distractions...DVD's.
Many families come at night when there younger kids can sleep in the wagon; spring time. OR, they leave the kids at home and come late.
Most of the time they come seperate when there are other siblings. On the occasion when there is shere caos; we ask them to leave. It is not in the best interest of the baby that we care for. Ultimately, we went the baby at home; and he can not get there if he is overwhelmed with stuff.
I resent the connotations being made towards children named Damien. Sure, I may have raised hell as a kid...I'm sure my parents at times thought that I was the spawn of some unnatural creature from the deep...but I've changed! I swear! I'm a good nurse!
I have to admit though, I get a kick out of seeing my patients raise their eyebrows upon hearing my name and taking report from Angel in the emerg always makes me smile.
AirforceRN.....sorry babe, I called that child in my op "Damien", as thats exactly the way he looked at me, like Damien from the Omen movie!!! And I felt a SHIVER!!!
No offence meant to any perfectly lovely people called Damien!!
Thanks to all who took time to read and reply to this thread I started, have enjoyed reading your posts and have taken some good ideas on board. Update on the family...They went home, :clpty:, and peace reigns once more in the NICU!
Strange thing was, with this creepy wee boy, Dad was a Mormon minister! :innerconf
(am only kidding about tripping him up btw..well, I THINK I am!)
..sorry babe, I called that child in my op "Damien", as thats exactly the way he looked at me, like Damien from the Omen movie!!!
caroladybelle, BSN, RN
5,486 Posts
I am in the US on oncology, and in the last week, have had 3 separate incidents of "Damiens" in the hall, wearing heelies and rolling down the hall.
(Heelies -those annoying noisy shoes with skates in them).
It's an Oncology floor, and they are skating, screaming, and playing tag, meamwhile wiping their running nose on their sleeves.
Not a parent in sight...they are in the room with kids in the hall.
And if I remind them that kids under the age of 12 are not permitted, they will launch in to a crying jag about how heartless I am because their Mother/brother/cousin/grammy/bridge partner/mah-jong friend/caddy has got CANCER, and they just have to visit.
(It's an onco floor - EVERYONE has cancer)
So why are the kids in the hall.....so the nurse can watch'em?
Why do they come to the hospital in HEELIES?
Why can't they shut up and getting playing "slap games" at each other until someone cries or draws blood.
WHY THE HE77 do you bring sniffly, sneezy, runny nosed kids onto an immunosuppression floor, where they can trip nurses carrying vesicant chemo, play in the isolation garbage, try to pull the needle case off the wall by hanging off it and doing pullups, or dump the contents of the chemo waste can on the floor?
And, I the nurse is the heartless one.