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

Nurses Relations

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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?!

Specializes in Emergency and Critical Care.

when I went to nursing school 30+ years ago we were taught to give the patient their privacy, close the curtain, or door, it is a natural occurring event. So as an old nurse I was taught to not be judgmental. On the other hand, as nurses we are suppose to be patient advocates, so depending on the situation and the patients condition, I have asked them to be respectful of the other patients around them, especially when I worked the ER, when there is even less privacy.

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

You all knock on the doors during the overnight shift when the patient may possibly be asleep?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
You all knock on the doors during the overnight shift when the patient may possibly be asleep?

I do.

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Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.

Complaint from hospitalist today:

"These nurses are clueless", I asked him "why do you say that?", he replied "so this nurse calls me at 3AM to tell me that she needs me to prescribe something for an agitated elderly pt who SHE woke up to administer a PRN Ambien order!!" I wanted to prove him wrong but after that story I could not help but to agree with him (in the case of this particular nurse) LMAO

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Complaint from hospitalist today:

"These nurses are clueless", I asked him "why do you say that?", he replied "so this nurse calls me at 3AM to tell me that she needs me to prescribe something for an agitated elderly pt who SHE woke up to administer a PRN Ambien order!!" I wanted to prove him wrong but after that story I could not help but to agree with him (in the case of this particular nurse) LMAO

What does that have to do with the subject of this thread?

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Specializes in CEN, CFRN, PHRN, RCIS, EMT-P.
What does that have to do with the subject of this thread?

I was commenting after I read the prior post "You all knock on the doors during the overnight shift when the patient may possibly be asleep?"

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.

We generally don't close room doors on my unit, as many patients are on falls precautions. But the walkie talkies are allowed to close doors to their rooms provided they have a single room or if the entire double room is walkie talkie. I have yet to see any instance where hanky panky is going on, but I cant imagine it hasn't ever happened on my unit. Then again, I've been too busy running around to ever worry about it, and our hourly rounding probably keeps people from doing anything anyway (or perhaps they are prudes and cant think of ever doing the nasty in that place lol).

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Specializes in FNP, ONP.

I'm with the "who cares?" crowd. People have sex. Close the door. It doesn't usually go on for hours. If it does, I'd recommend the patient for discharge.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
Regardless of any other aspect of this type is situation,

sex does not equal Media!

The comparison stems from the staff member having to see it, when it involves people other than the staff member and his/her own partner. More importantly if the staff member happens to be a minor child.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
The comparison stems from the staff member having to see it, when it involves people other than the staff member and his/her own partner. More importantly if the staff member happens to be a minor child.

Ok...what minor child is working?

Last time I checked, it was 2014, not 1914....

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
If they're not dead.....sex IS a possibility. :yes:

Well, technically, it's even possible after they're dead... but I think (hope!) everyone here would agree that the act in this type of instance truly is gross/nasty/inappropriate!!!!

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My former Ethics professor summed it up like this:

Patients are not your employee, or your co-worker. They are your employer. They are paying you to provide a service. They are paying the hospital/LTC for the room. They can perform whatever sex acts they so choose whether alone, or with a consenting adult, in the room they are paying for. It's none of your business, and they do have a right to privacy.

Think of a hospital room or LTC room as the equivalent of a hotel room. You are room service/housekeeping. Always knock before entering, and leave the room and close the door if you walk in on a private act.

They're definitely not my employer.

And the nurse/patient relationship is NOT the same as the housekeeping/patient relationship.

This way of thinking plays right into the hands of the whole customer service mentality.

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