Private Rooms Standard

[Lisa, MA]

How many of you agree that private rooms should be standard across the board? Not only does multiple patient rooms violate HIPAA laws, it is dangerous. Cross contamination is greater in a shared room as are other safety issues.

In a local facility here where I live, a man was just beaten to death this week by his demented roommate. It really gives pause.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

private rooms are a nice fantasy. our patients are grateful when they get one of the double rooms rather than the three or six bed wards!

[GreyGull]

I work with a fairly geriatric population at a teaching hospital where the docs think nothing of talking loudly (often necessary due to hearing issues) or preforming bedside procedures without thought of ever pulling the curtain.

Doctors can be difficult to police and often they don't mean to violate the patient's privacy. They just become too focused to remember a few commonsense practices.

I also find that the roommate is just as hearing impaired and will believe you are talking to them with or without a curtain. I once yelled "cough!" to a patient and got several responses many rooms away although they had no clue why they were coughing except their hearing aid happened to pick up my loud voiced command.