Patients whose gf/bf sleep with them in the hospital bed

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Specializes in med surg, tele, ortho, preop, recovery.

Today I went in to do an assessement of a patient. I knocked, didn't get a response, and peeked in. The room is completely dark and I ask to turn the light on. The patient turns the light on and he and his girlfriend are in the little narrow bed together, sleeping. I can't help but feel like I'm intruding:o

Now Ive seen this before but it was two teenagers so I kind of dismissed it, but two gray haired adults crammed in that narrow bed just seems so silly to me. Why not let patient recuperate and sleep in the pullout bed beside him?

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Specializes in designated med nurse,med surg,hh, peds.

When my DH was in the hospital years ago, he INSISTED I sleep in the bed with him. He was scared out of his mind,and couldn't rest with out me next to him. (they thought he had pancreatic cancer. He didn't, turns out it was food poisioning) I have NEVER been so uncomfortable in my life, but we were newlyweds and he WAS very, very ill. I slept fully clothed on a different sheet so I wouldn't contaminate the bed. It's funny now...

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im guilty of this also , when I had my first daughter my husband jumped into the hospital bed right with me , the nurses were great and offered to get him a bed of his own but he said no. We were pretty newley marries so it seemed kind of sweet but, now if hew tried it , I would tell him to get his own room!!

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Specializes in LTC, med-surg, critial care.
PickMePlze said:
Now Ive seen this before but it was two teenagers so I kind of dismissed it, but two gray haired adults crammed in that narrow bed just seems so silly to me. Why not let patient recuperate and sleep in the pullout bed beside him?

Huh, I'm the complete opposite. If I saw two teenagers I would mentally roll my eyes. If I saw two gray hairs I would think it was sweet.

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I've had it happen before too. I just thought it was sweet. Now, what DID upset me was when the wife was the patient and the husband would only stay with her if he could have the bed and she slept on a chair... :angryfire

and she DID IT. Slept on a chair with a broken leg. Told me it was worth it because she didn't want to be alone.

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LoriAlabamaRN said:
I've had it happen before too. I just thought it was sweet. Now, what DID upset me was when the wife was the patient and the husband would only stay with her if he could have the bed and she slept on a chair... :angryfire

and she DID IT. Slept on a chair with a broken leg. Told me it was worth it because she didn't want to be alone.

What?

That is messed up. :madface:

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I slept on the gerichair by Matt's bed when he was sick. On the med-surg floor i used to work on as an aide, I remembered how many grumbles and whines people gave the nurses, when it was time for the nurse to do their assessment, and a visitor was draped all over the pt. I wasn't about to do the same thing.

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A few years ago, my best friend was about 32 weeks preg with her 2nd baby and went into Preterm Labor. She was on Mag and Terbutaline (Mag for sure, can't remember too well if she was also on Terb for the entire time), but she was terrified. Her husband had left her about 2 weeks after they found out she was pregnant and had no one with her...so I stayed the night, most of the time in bed with her so I could sit her up when she started getting nauseous. We were incredibly close, and I must say, the nurses were the best group of women ever. Never batted an eye at the sight of two 20-something girls curled up together in bed. They even offered me warm blankets and a breakfast tray...

Point being, you never know what is going to be best for a patient. If they want their SO (or friend, or whatever) curled up next to them, who are we to judge? It's still reasonable to ask them to move over so you can assess...

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Personally, I don't have a problem with this. These hospital beds can hold a great deal of weight. If the patient, however, has something that's really contagious and could be harmful to the SO I would do a little educating. However, these people live together when they are not in the hospital. What's the difference, I say?

Now, I've got a dilly of a story for you all. I worked at a hospital in a town that is known for it's gay population. We got a new admission during the night shift who became the patient of a new grad working on our unit. It was a busy night and after perhaps an hour the new grad finally got her paperwork together to do his admission assessment and strolled over to his room (we had private rooms) and walked in on the guy's SO having oral sex with him. The patient and SO promptly gave her a tongue lashing (no pun intended) about knocking before entering. She came back to the nurses station just white as a ghost and we could all see that something was terribly wrong. What happened, we all asked. As she told her story some were laughing. Lesson: always knock before entering!

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I find it odd cause it looks so uncomfortable, but I don't really care as long as they move so I can do my assessments and stuff.

Daytonite, I beat that. I know a coworker who walked in on the same thing. The only difference was this was when the woman was in LABOR.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

I'm fine with that in a private room, but in a semiprivate room, the roommate doesn't get any privacy, so my answer is.....depends.

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Specializes in Case Management.
fergus51 said:
I find it odd cause it looks so uncomfortable, but I don't really care as long as they move so I can do my assessments and stuff.

Daytonite, I beat that. I know a coworker who walked in on the same thing. The only difference was this was when the woman was in LABOR.

OMG!!!was she giving or receiving?

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