Small children visiting patients in the critical care setting... thoughts??

Specialties Critical

Published

You are reading page 2 of Small children visiting patients in the critical care setting... thoughts??

rncat2000

42 Posts

Rules are there to bring order to an otherwise chaotic situation, however rules can be bent depending on the situation. I work the floor of a busy med/surg cardiac step down peds unit and we have rules about visiting hours but we have been known to stretch those hours with certain cases.

I also remember a sweet NICU nurse here in the hospital where my twin nephews were born bending the rules to let my neice see her new cousins that she had driven 8 hours to see with my sister. It was after hours and they were not major sick but were early(as with a lot of twins) my neice had talked of nothing but them for months even made them little blankets to go in the bed with them.

She gowned and gloved her up and placed her in a high chair and let her see them. She remembers this like it was yesterday, and still talks about how nice that nurse was!

While we have to be mindful of other patients and our own patient we have to remember that we have to treat the whole patient. Does it get hard with family underfoot yes but sometimes that is what the patient needs more than the medicine and care we give. It is certainly a balancing act that when done right it a benefit to our patients.

Specializes in ED.

I agree that small children shouldn't be allowed with exceptions on occasion. I work at a VA Medical Center, in the ER, and our policy is that we don't let anyone under 12 back. Some nurses I work with are adimate about never allowing them back but as I mentioned to them if it were me and mine were all under that age, and I didn't have anyone to watch them I would expect them to come back with me. There are many younger vets now with families and I want to be sure they feel they can come in and be seen if necessary and not have to worry about child care first if they need to be seen. I am pretty demanding that they stay in the room and not running the halls.

I have also seen some families come in to the ER here and at the other hospital I work at, where they come in at all hours of the night for a sore throat dragging their babies with them which is just ridiculous. No need for you to drag your babies out of their beds at all hours for your own barely imperceptible cough.

Eh. As mentioned before age is not a predictor on how someone will behave. I have seen some kids behave a heck of a lot better than the adults in a room. As long as they aren't sick and aren't too disruptive I don't care.

ICUNurseStat

42 Posts

Specializes in ICU.

I work in a Medical ICU and our policy is also no visitors under 12 years of age. I like it and find that in some cases it is appropriate. However, we are looking at some changes in our policy. Thus far, I have been unable to find any evidence that supports restricting visitors based on age. In my opinion, it should be up to the discretion of the person responsible for the children. Unfortunately, not everyone who is responsible for children can be considered "responsible". Also, adults with children at home who come in to visit are bringing in and taking out the exact same germs that we claim to be protecting the children/patients from so they are all being exposed second hand anyway.

Specializes in Psych.

I go with the if I was in this position what would I want. I would want my kids to be able to visit me ( or any close relative, and I have a huge close family) if I were in the ICU. My mom already has asked her PCP if he would write an order her grandchildren to visit if she was ever in the ICU ( my grandfather was in the ICU for a few weeks, before going home on hospice) and he will, seeing that the rules state no children under 12.

RNperdiem, RN

4,592 Posts

There is a screening form that we use for the occasional child visitor to rule out most contagious things.

Over the years, I have found most families are sensible about this. They keep the kids close, the visits short and ask before bringing the children in.

I have a co-worker who told me about what it was like when she was a child in more restrictive times. Her mother was terminally ill from cancer. A couple of the nurses would let her visit even though she was 10 (she was a tall child who looked older), but most nurses wouldn't let her see her mom. On days denied visitation, the girl stood in the parking lot and waved at the window; it was all she could do.

Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.

I think it's sad that some believe children don't belong in the hospital at all.

Germs are everywhere. Yes, a hospital tends to have a lot of germs but does it really have more than a public bathroom, chuck e cheese, a playground?

I snuck my children into see my grandmother when she was on a vent. We didn't think she would pull through. My grandfather wouldn't leave her bedside. Seeing my kids one at a time put such a smile on his face and I believe that my grandmother knew they were there. She did manage to pull through.

Hospitals aren't so bad that kids don't belong.

It isn't about kids but decent behavior...something many adults are lacking.

Esme..that was beautiful... ***you are the best***

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

These are the responses to me that stand out for me to have a more "family centered care" approach within REASONABLE situations.

It is quite a balancing act of making sure that our pts needs come first, even if some required more "family centered care" than others.

And I agree with the "exceptions as outlined by Esme... :yes:

Rules are good, but I've never found that young age is an accurate predictor of breaking the rules. For instance, please don't bring family members that require more supervision and care than you can provide, I don't care if they are a rambunctious 4 year old or the patient's 91 year old wife with dementia. Don't visit if you are sick, again it makes no difference how old you are. Don't interfere with my ability to care for the patient, again adults are just as guilty of this as children. While hospitals are dirty places, so is fresh fruit at the grocery store, and you'll often find more and worse bacteria on that fruit than you'll find on a hospital room floor.

Mainly, it's none of my business to judge whether family 'needs' to visit a patient. I've learned from experience that telling family "why don't you just wait until they are out of ICU" can come back to bite you.

Rules are there to bring order to an otherwise chaotic situation, however rules can be bent depending on the situation. I work the floor of a busy med/surg cardiac step down peds unit and we have rules about visiting hours but we have been known to stretch those hours with certain cases.

I also remember a sweet NICU nurse here in the hospital where my twin nephews were born bending the rules to let my neice see her new cousins that she had driven 8 hours to see with my sister. It was after hours and they were not major sick but were early(as with a lot of twins) my neice had talked of nothing but them for months even made them little blankets to go in the bed with them.

She gowned and gloved her up and placed her in a high chair and let her see them. She remembers this like it was yesterday, and still talks about how nice that nurse was!

While we have to be mindful of other patients and our own patient we have to remember that we have to treat the whole patient. Does it get hard with family underfoot yes but sometimes that is what the patient needs more than the medicine and care we give. It is certainly a balancing act that when done right it a benefit to our patients.

Eh. As mentioned before age is not a predictor on how someone will behave. I have seen some kids behave a heck of a lot better than the adults in a room. As long as they aren't sick and aren't too disruptive I don't care.

I think it's sad that some believe children don't belong in the hospital at all.

Germs are everywhere. Yes, a hospital tends to have a lot of germs but does it really have more than a public bathroom, chuck e cheese, a playground?

I snuck my children into see my grandmother when she was on a vent. We didn't think she would pull through. My grandfather wouldn't leave her bedside. Seeing my kids one at a time put such a smile on his face and I believe that my grandmother knew they were there. She did manage to pull through.

Hospitals aren't so bad that kids don't belong.

It isn't about kids but decent behavior...something many adults are lacking.

It all comes down to a case by case basis.

Specializes in MICU - CCRN, IR, Vascular Surgery.

In my MICU our policy is no one under age 14, and during flu season, no one under 18. We will make exceptions for certain situations which is understandable, but I have also suggested that people FaceTime from the patient's room to the little kids if it's not one of those dire circumstances.

Specializes in NICU, OB/GYN.

My father spent 5 days in the MICU at a level-one teaching hospital when I was 12. My sisters were 9 and 6 at the time. We were on vacation when his health status suddenly deteriorated, and he was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. He required extensive resuscitation in order to survive, including (but not limited to) intubation, epinephrine, and pressors.

I'm forever grateful to the nurses who snuck my sisters and I back to his room to say hello to him. We were allowed to stay only briefly, we had to wash our hands (and couldn't touch anything, except to give him a kiss), and we could only stay as long as his vital signs remained stable (his heart rate would occasionally spike as he saw us walking down the hall). I think it was good for him, too; not only for his mental and psychological status, but also for the well-being of my sisters and mother, after going through something so traumatic.

ComeTogether, LPN

1 Article; 2,178 Posts

Specializes in Transitional Nursing.
I have been a critical acre nurse for a LONG LONG time. I think that there should be an age limit of around 12. The are old enough to understand the world around them and the importance of following the rules. But rules are meant to be broken and used with common sense.

I have on more than one occasion broke the "NO children rule"(I'm sorry Sister M....:x3:). One was a 41 year old brittle diabetic that had a massive MI, going to open heart.....the was probably not going to get off the table (this was YEARS AGO). Her daughter had just had a baby during this MI, IABP, Cath lab, CABG scenario....so......on the night before surgery....after the brass had left...(except for Sister M because she lived there....)I snuck that baby in....briefly. Tom y great relief the patient did make it off the table and went home.

One other occasion I had a 28 year old patient that had ovarian cancer with mets to her spine.....some mental giant convinced her to cut herself in half....to have rods placed so she could sit up in a wheelchair....it became clear she was probably not going to leave the ICU....one night we were talking about death and dying...I was 27 myself.....ans she said her dying wish wild be to have her children (3 and 4) sleep with her, a six pack of beer and a pizza from a favorite pizza joint. So.....the next evening she got her wish (thank you Sister for not turning me in)....she died a few days later.

I even snuck a little dog in once.....Shhush...don't tell anyone....;)

Clearly there are exceptions to every rule but the danger to the patient from pulled cords and IV lines let alone the infectious risk...children should be limited.

Esme i Just think you are wonderful I hope someday to be like this !

+ Add a Comment