ncglazergirl

I used to work in a PICU that strictly forbid overnight sleeping at the bedside. Then I went to work in a PICU that encouraged families to stay at the bedside. It drove me really crazy at first. I had a hard time being under 'watchful eyes' at first. The fact of the matters is that if your hospital has endorsed this, then you have to figure out how to make it work. If I had very sick patients, I would ask the parent to push their chair/cot against the wall so that I would have full access all around the bed. I explained that their presence was important and needed, but not at the expense of their child's welfare. In other words, if there was an emergency, I needed to be able to have quick access instead of having to move a bed out of the way. This made sense to most parents. I also didn't try and worry about the parents need to sleep that much. If they wanted sleep, they could go else where. If they wanted me to take good care of their child, they would let me do what I needed to do. That being said, I did try to be considerate, but the truth was that their child was my first priority, not them. With families it will never be super easy, and the more families you have at the bedside, the more your unit will figure out what works best at your hospital. Good Luck!