FoolsErrand

I am wondering what the visitor policies are like at other hospitals and if they are actually enforced. The visiting policy for all nursings units (except ICU, L&D and any peds) is supposed to be from 8a-8p. However, enforcing this "rule" can be difficult and time-consuming. It can take us quite awhile to get the visitors to actually leave. The hospital does an announcement at 8p, we then do another about 15 min later on our unit and since most of the visitors just don't care we have to start going room to room and telling them visiting hrs are over. Most of the time they just smile and say ok, but then do not leave and we have to go back around. Not only are we dealing with getting them to leave, but the amount of visitors they will squeeze in to these rooms sometimes astonishes me. Then, we have to waste our time telling them there is a 2 visitor/pt policy. They don't care about that either and we do not have private rooms. To make it worse, security will just send anybody up after visiting hrs with a pass without calling and asking. It is then put on us to have them leave and the family gets mad because obviously it is ok since security let them in. I am really tired of dealing with this drama every night when I have much more important things to be doing with my time.... like taking care of pts I am annoyed with hearing the complaints from the roommates of the pts that had 5 or more visitors all day because the other nurses are too scared, timid or just to plain busy to fight that battle or say anything. I really just do not get how they (the family) can be so inconsiderate of the fact that there is another pt in the room! I am sick of hearing the complaints from the family when I tell them that there should only be 2 visitors at a time because "nobody else said anything all day." We are also not supposed to let any visitors stay overnight unless for safety reasons or a pt is very ill or dying. But, that is also barely enforced. I feel like we need to hire someone just to deal with this! Does anybody else have these issues at their facility? What is done to enforce the "policies" and can it even be?? Sorry this is so long. Thank you for any replies :loveya:

I think the fact that they did not say a word to us is what, in fact, upsets me the most at this point. He didn't even look in the direction of the nurses station at all when coming to or leaving the unit. I really think he should have talked to staff and asked what had been happening and gotten our perspective. I know for sure that one Rn called in the day after having that pt because she was so mentally drained, upset and anxious over the prospect of having the pt back. Unfortunately, our social worker would be of no help. I am going to talk to my manager about this situation and get her insight. We do have rude/mean, etc pt and families unfortunately too often, but I swear these people took it to another level.

Had a pt on our unit this week with a very mean family, especially daughter and wife. They were constantly throwing insults at the staff while they were caring for the pt and literally yelling at staff, calling them dirty, telling them anything they did was wrong, following them around nurses station yelling, etc. It was horribly stressful. The nursing staff were requesting not to have the pt back and by the end of the week pretty much everybody had to endure this abuse by the family. The staff bent over backward, went above and beyond to try to attain the impossible goal of making this family happy and to try and ensure they did not escalate their already out of hand behavior. At the end of the week, the nicest, most patient and understanding RN I have ever encountered had this pt/family. They even had her in tears and frustrated, which I never thought I would see. The charge Rn finally spoke with the wife, telling her the staff and her were on the same team, that we all wanted the best possible care for her husband and tried to explain there needed to be a better way to communicate with the staff. Well, this caused all hell to break loose! The CEO was called, all sorts of family members showed up to yell some more. Two different "suits" showed up on the unit to make the family happy. None of the "suits" talked to the nurses. None of them asked what we had been going through. They just walked in the pt room, talked with the family and then walked off the unit and talked to the nursing supervisor who was given the task of telling the charge Rn that she and the staff had to basically "suck it up," do whatever they say, deal with them yelling at us and too bad for you guys. I am so upset with the way administration handled this situation. I feel like the family had treated the nursing staff like 3rd-class citizens all week and the "higher-ups" agreed we are just that and gave them permission to continue their horrible behavior. Thankfully, it is rare to have families or patients that are THIS bad. But, when it does happen, why is it ok to have your staff abused? Is the money this one pt brings in really worth your nursing staff being constantly mentally abused? There really needs to be something set in to place for the rare event of a pt/family so out of control. It is sad that they know they can treat the nursing staff as horribly as they want and they will be backed up by administration. I really had to vent and don't think I have even gotten it all out I am so disappointed in the administration. This whole scenario that played out has me seriously considering looking for a new job, but I am doubtful there is any place that would actually stand up for their staff and not allow this abuse.