Pt having a "friend" over for "special nursing care"

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You know what I mean. . .a patient having someone of the opposite sex (or the same sex! that's happened too) that they are romantically involved with, spend the night (thankfully in a private room) and performing overt sex acts, to the horror of the poor CNA who has to come in and fix her tele leads, which have obviously come loose from all the activity.

I was horrified to know that not only does my hospital not have a policy against this, but the house supervisor told me I was not allowed to tell them to stop! These are sick people here! I understand people say they have "physical needs," but can we draw a line somewhere?!

Off topic, r/t your avatar, purple roses:

Saw a t-shirt with the saying:

"Keep calm"

Then there was an EKG showing a flatline... then

"OK. Not THAT calm!"

:laugh:

I've seen that shirt! Want.

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The patient did not ask you to go watch them. They should have there privacy (because it is private room) in there own room. Nurses dont have the right to just go in without knocking. If you believe that you cannot have privacy outside your home then it is your belief but there people who have different beliefs because you are not the only person in the world and they are not here to PLEASE you. And you are here to judge them because of there belief of what privacy in a private room is. Is this really being therapeutic to the client? Is being a Nurse being able to judge what your patient's beliefs?

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Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.
The patient did not ask you to go watch them. They should have there privacy (because it is private room) in there own room. Nurses dont have the right to just go in without knocking. If you believe that you cannot have privacy outside your home then it is your belief but there people who have different beliefs because you are not the only person in the world and they are not here to PLEASE you. And you are here to judge them because of there belief of what privacy in a private room is. Is this really being therapeutic to the client? Is being a Nurse being able to judge what your patient's beliefs?

Agree

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All I have to say is I'm glad I work peds!

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The patient did not ask you to go watch them. They should have there privacy (because it is private room) in there own room. Nurses dont have the right to just go in without knocking. If you believe that you cannot have privacy outside your home then it is your belief but there people who have different beliefs because you are not the only person in the world and they are not here to PLEASE you. And you are here to judge them because of there belief of what privacy in a private room is. Is this really being therapeutic to the client? Is being a Nurse being able to judge what your patient's beliefs?

What's the point of being on telemetry if staff do not first of all ensure that the leads are attached at all times? It also seems quite reasonable that staff respond to the patient's room if a less than optimal heart rhythm suddenly develops.

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This is against my hospital policy. If they are caught with a roommate in the room at the time we are required to call the police. It is against state law to force a person to observe a sexual act (as I understand it).

We had a woman go into a bathroom with her bf to have sex (I wasn't there so I don't know how it was handled) and had the awkward situation later when she came back positive for c-diff. The look on his face when seeing the isolation sign....

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Well does that mean that you just walk in into someones room, and not knock before you enter? Would the patients heart rate rise even if he/she just go up to go use the bathroom? Yes, the purpose of being in the telemetry. But does that mean there is no privacy? If the patient is really on that critical situation would'nt he/she be on a complete bed rest ordered by a physician? Not allowed to do anything? Why didn't the nurse educate him/her as to what she/he is suppose to do and not to do, prior to admission?

Why didn't they stop them if it wasn't right?

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A private room in a hospital is not the same as a private hotel room and with telemetry you darn well better expect a fast visit from your nurse if you go flat lining for no good reason. Isn't that kind of the POINT of telemetry? sheesh!

On a completely different entirely judgmental note: There Their They're… Beliefs believes.. lol. Poor grammar diminishes the impact of an argument imo.

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It be hard to do since we fly one at a time lol, but if they wanted to please themselves, I would just look away.

Ok. Interesting. So if I understand you correctly, you as a nurse would be willing to be a presence in a part of your patient’s sex life? I understand that you aren’t actively participating but you would physically be there in the same small confined space. If this feels acceptable to you, where do you draw the line? You say that you’d look away, but what if the patient asked you to look at them? Are you still okay with that? What if they during their activities, told you that they find you handsome/pretty/attractive/sexy? Do you feel that any boundaries have been crossed at that point or are you still comfortable with the whole thing?

Personally, not only do I completely lack a desire to be a witness to my patient’s sexuality up close and personal, but I also think that my professional responsibilities include having clearly defined boundaries towards my patients.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
I need to take a **** about five times a day. If I decide to squat in the emergency stairwell, then I'll just stomp and whine when someone calls me out on it, because it's a basic need that I should have the right to do anywhere I damn well please.

That's actually a good measure of what level typically private behavior is 'appropriate' for a particular person in a particular place. If someone set down a commode in the emergency stairwell, or for that matter a waiting room, bus, etc and proceeded to have a BM, would that really be the same as if a patient had a BM on a commode in the middle of their own hospital room?

I would hope most people would consider those to be two different things.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
OH! Right. Maslows Heirachry. If Maslow says we NEED it then it must be ok in the hospital and on telemetry. Gosh, thanks so much for pointing that out. Maybe the doctors should start prescribing sex and it could be part of the discharge planning and assessments.

I have actually had doctors orders for conjugal visits and it is part of the patient's plan of care for that day.

There are times where it's not appropriate, although there are many times where it is, even for hospitalized patients.

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Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.
Ok. Interesting. So if I understand you correctly, you as a nurse would be willing to be a presence in a part of your patient’s sex life? I understand that you aren’t actively participating but you would physically be there in the same small confined space. If this feels acceptable to you, where do you draw the line? You say that you’d look away, but what if the patient asked you to look at them? Are you still okay with that? What if they during their activities, told you that they find you handsome/pretty/attractive/sexy? Do you feel that any boundaries have been crossed at that point or are you still comfortable with the whole thing?

Personally, not only do I completely lack a desire to be a witness to my patient’s sexuality up close and personal, but I also think that my professional responsibilities include having clearly defined boundaries towards my patients.

Of course the scenario you just described is inappropriate but then again that's not the scenario we were talking about. I'll give you points for creativity, you should write erotic novels LMAO!!!

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